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THOUGHTS 


ON 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


BY 

SAMUEL MILLER, D.D., LL.D. 

• * 

Professor in the Theological Seminary at Princeton, New Jersey. 



PHILADELPHIA: 


PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF PUBLICATION, 



Entered according to the act of Congress, in the year 1849, by 
A. W. Mitchell, M. D. 

In the office of the Clerk of the District Court, for the Eastern 
District of Pennsylvania. 


PRINTED BY 
WILLIAM S. MARTIEN. 


££ fe VA/ M£V7 




DEDICATION. 


TO THE YOUNGER MINISTERS, AND CANDIDATES FOR THE 
MINISTRY, IN THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN THE UNITED 
STATES. 

Brethren beloved in the Lord: 

Many of you have been my pupils, 
whom I have followed ever since you left 
the Seminary with which it is my privilege 
to be connected, with my best wishes, and 
fervent prayers; and all of you, I doubt not, 
are willing kindly to receive from an aged 
servant of the Church, who is soon to “ put 
off this tabernacle,” any intimations which 
he may deem adapted to promote your 
acceptance and usefulness. 

Unless I mistake, I have observed, from 
time to time, facts in regard to public prayer 
which satisfied me that there was a call for 


4 


DEDICATION. 


special counsel on the subject. It has even 
occurred to me to doubt whether the well 
known doctrine of our beloved Church, with 
regard to Liturgies, may not have been so 
rigidly interpreted, and so unskilfully ap¬ 
plied, as to lead to practical misapprehension 
and mischief in regard to the devotional part 
of the service of our sanctuaries. 

It will not surprise me if some of the 
suggestions found in the following pages, 
especially in the last chapter, should be 
considered by some as unexpected, if not as 
questionable in their character. All I can 
say concerning them is, that they have not 
been hastily or inconsiderately made, nor 
without a sacred regard to those great prin¬ 
ciples which our venerated fathers regarded 
as precious, and which w^ere exemplified 
and recommended by the apostolic Church. 

If I had known of any work adapted to 
occupy the ground and fulfil the purpose 
contemplated in the present volume, I should 
have forborne to trouble the religious com- 


DEDICATION. 


5 


munity with its publication. But as I am 
not aware that any such work exists, I am 
impelled to attempt the service here respect¬ 
fully offered, which I humbly commend to 
the patronage and blessing of Him who 
alone can make it useful. 

To the younger Ministers of our beloved 
Church, and to the Candidates for the sacred 
office alone , do I venture to present this 
volume. With regard to the more advanced 
in life, and the aged, I should be glad, old as 
I am, to sit at their feet as a learner; and 
can only beg their candid examination and 
indulgent estimate of the following attempt 
to benefit their younger brethren. 

I am, my beloved young friends, your 
affectionate brother in Christian bonds, 

SAMUEL MILLER. 

Princeton Theological Seminary, 

October 31st, 1848. 



CONTENTS 


C. 

CHAPTER I. 

Page 

Introductory Remarks.. *.J.9 

CHAPTER II. 

History of Public Prayer.42 

Praying toward the East.86 

Prayers for the Dead.91 

Prayers to the Saints, and to the Virgin Mary.98 

Prayers in an Unknown Tongue .103 

«» Responses in Public Prayer.114 

Posture in Public Prayer.116 

CHAPTER III. 

The claims of Liturgies .131 

CHAPTER IV. 

Frequent faults of Public Prayer .177 












8 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER V. 

PAGE 

Characteristics of a good Public Prayer . 216 

CHAPTER VI. 

The best means of attaining excellence in conducting 

Public Prayer. 258 




THOUGHTS ON PUBLIC PRAYER. 


CHAPTER I. 

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 

The pulpit work of a gospel minister is his 
great w T ork. True, there are other depart¬ 
ments of his labour, the importance of which 
can hardly be overrated. Family visitation; 
the catechetical instruction of children and 
young people; the appropriate instruction 
and consolation of the sick and dying; the 
supervision of schools, whether sabbatical or 
secular, of every kind; and, in short, every 
thing that can be brought to bear on Chris¬ 
tian education, and on the moral or reli¬ 
gious interests of the souls committed to 
to his care, or placed within his reach—all, 
all demand his constant and prayerful atten¬ 
tion, and can never be neglected without sin, 
and without the danger of serious injury to 
2 



10 


THOUGHTS ON 


the best interests of the flock committed to 
his charge. Indeed it may be said, with 
perfect truth, that no one of these depart¬ 
ments of labour can be neglected without 
injury to the minister himself, as well as to 
those to whom he ministers. These labours 
out of the pulpit, if faithfully performed, are 
admirably adapted to prepare and qualify 
him to fill the pulpit with more skill and 
more efficiency. How can a pastor preach 
intelligently and appropriately to his people, 
without knowing their state ? And how is 
he to know their real state but by more or 
less intercourse with them in private ? And 
how can he expect to render this intercourse 
subservient to the great object of his minis¬ 
try, if it be not essentially and habitually of 
a religious character? Every time that the 
pastor goes forth from his study to visit the 
families of his flock, it ought to be performed 
for the double purpose of conferring spiritual 
benefit on them, and receiving a benefit him¬ 
self. If, for the attainment of the former 
purpose, he carry the gospel with affection 
and tenderness on his lips wherever he goes, 
his own knowledge of the real condition and 
wants of his people will be greatly enlarged, 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


11 


and his heart warmed with increasing love 
to the Saviour, and love and zeal for the sal¬ 
vation of souls, and the enlargement of that 
kingdom which is not meat and drink, but 
righteousness, and peace, and joy in the 
Holy Ghost. O ! that ministers could be 
persuaded to realize that the best part of 
their preparation for the pulpit, that which 
is best adapted to impart the richest instruc¬ 
tiveness, and the most touching unction to 
all its teachings, is, not to seclude themselves 
perpetually in their studies—not to be for 
ever trimming the midnight lamp; but to 
go forth and put themselves often in contact 
■with the cavils and the objections of the 
enemies of the gospel, as well as with the 
anxieties, the conflicts, the consolations, the 
joys, and the triumphs of Christian be¬ 
lievers. 

Still the pulpit work of the minister of 
Christ is his great work. This view of the 
subject ought never to be abandoned or for¬ 
gotten. And to this the ambassador of 
Christ ought to address himself with all the 
prayerful diligence; with all the powers 
of mind, and body, and heart with which his 
Master has endowed him; and with ail those 


12 


THOUGHTS ON 


improvements of them severally, which the 
providence of God places within his reach. 
And O, if preachers were as earnestly desi¬ 
rous and as faithfully laborious, day and 
night, to improve every power, intellectual, 
moral, and physical for this purpose, as the 
miser is to save and accumulate money, as 
the ambitious man is to gather and display 
worldly honours, what progress might we 
not expect to mark in the character and 
results of the labours of gospel ministers! 

But what department of pulpit work is the 
most vitally important ? and to which ought 
our main efforts and prayers to be directed ? 
Poor fallible mortals are ever prone to ex? 
tremes, and, in balancing between attain¬ 
ments and duties, to make sad mistakes in 
their estimates. The Romanists, overrating 
the importance of external rites and cere¬ 
monies, and laying undue stress on their 
Missals and Breviaries, have confidently 
taught that their liturgical performances 
were far more important than public preach¬ 
ing ; and, of course, that the latter might be 
much more safely dispensed with than the 
former. And, accordingly, about the time of 
the rise of the “ Man of Sin,” public preach- 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


13 


ing was thrust into a corner, and treated as 
an inferior concern; and, indeed, as to any 
suitable character of preaching, as an exer¬ 
cise adapted to bring the minds of men into 
contact with the Holy Scriptures, it was, 
during the dark ages, in a great measure 
laid aside. For those, whose policy it was 
to lock up the Scriptures from the common 
people, could not, of course, be expected 
to do anything but discourage scriptural 
preaching. With a view to justify this esti¬ 
mate it has been said, by those who take this 
ground, that in Prayer we speak directly to 
God, and implore his blessing; whereas in 
Preaching we listen to the speculations of 
men exhibiting to us their own opinions of 
truth and duty. They judge, therefore, that 
if it be necessary or convenient to discon¬ 
tinue either, it is much the less evil to dis¬ 
continue preaching. And in this judgment 
some who call themselves Protestants, but 
who too much resemble Romanists, seem 
disposed to concur. They deem and pro¬ 
nounce the service of the “ Reading Desk” 
of far more value, as a means of grace, than 
the discourses which proceed from the pul¬ 
pit. 


2* 


14 


THOUGHTS ON 


This is, doubtless, a deeply erroneous 
judgment. Nothing can be more evident 
than that, in the New Testament history, 
public preaching makes a much more pro¬ 
minent and important figure as an instru¬ 
mentality for converting the world, and 
edifying the Church, than public prayer; 
for it has pleased God, in all ages, emi¬ 
nently “ by the foolishness of preaching” to 
save them that believe. Nay, more than 
this, the very statement of our opponents in 
this argument may be turned against them¬ 
selves ; for if, in prayer, we always speak to 
God , in the way of his own appointment; in 
preaching, God speaks to us by his com¬ 
missioned servant, if that servant preaches 
the preaching which the Master bids him. 
And which is the more serious and solemn 
employment, our speaking to God, and im¬ 
ploring his favour, or God speaking to us, 
and communicating his will, either in the 
language of instruction, of threatening, or 
of promise? It is not wise, however, to 
exalt either of these exercises at the expense 
of the other. Both are required in the New 
Testament Church; and both have a value 
beyond our power to estimate. 


TUBLIC PRAYER. 


15 


Yet, while we censure Romanists, and 
others, for undervaluing preaching, we must 
not excuse Presbyterians if they sometimes 
appear to undervalue public prayer; and to 
be less concerned than they ought to be, to 
secure its rightful and edifying performance. 
Nothing is more certain than that there 
is sometimes an appearance of this. It 
would be difficult to estimate the amount 
that has been written, by Presbyterians as 
well as others, concerning the composition 
and delivery of sermons. Lectures and 
volumes almost innumerable, have been 
lavished on this subject; and, in pursuance 
of their instruction, nothing is more common 
than to bestow unwearied labour on the 
preparation of discourses for the pulpit. 
But how much less of the nature of counsel 
seems to have been given to candidates for 
the holy ministry, to aid them in the accept¬ 
able performance of public prayer! And 
how much less attention seems to be 
bestowed on the part of those candidates, 
on this whole subject! Books, indeed, in 
almost countless number, containing forms 
of prayer, have been given to the public; 
but books adapted to afford real aid to those 


16 THOUGHTS ON 

who are in a course of preparation for the 
sacred office, in conducting extemporaneous 
public prayer in an acceptable and edifying 
manner, have been few and inadequate. 
Whether this has arisen from an impression 
that public prayer was a matter of compara¬ 
tively small importance; or from a notion 
that it may be safely left, from its nature to 
take care of itself; or from a morbid desire 
to recede as far as possible from giving any 
countenance to prescribed forms, it is not 
necessary at present to decide. What¬ 
ever may have been the reason, it is 
doubtless, an erroneous one. For whatever 
comparative estimate we may form, in 
our wisdom or our folly, concerning tw 7 o 
acknowledged ordinances of God, I hope, in 
the following pages to satisfy every impar¬ 
tial reader, that public prayer is not only 
a divinely prescribed, but an unspeakably 
important ordinance; and that both the 
nature and the means of excellence in the 
dispensation of this ordinance, are such as 
not only to admit, but to demand appro¬ 
priate study, and careful moral and mental 
culture. 

We are, no doubt, warranted in imploring 


PUBLIC TRAYER. 


17 


and expecting the aid of the Holy Spirit in 
every department of our spiritual services. 
Hence, he who has “the residue of the 
Spirit,” speaks of pouring out upon his 
people “the spirit of grace and supplica¬ 
tion.”* And again, it is said, “the Spirit 
helpeth our infirmities; for we know not 
what to pray for as we ought; but the 
Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with 
groanings which cannot be uttered.”f Yet 
neither in prayer, nor in any other exercise 
of religion are we to suppose that the Holy 
Spirit’s influence is intended to supersede 
the exercise of our own faculties; but rather 
to stimulate, to strengthen and to purify 
them. Of course, our petitions for that 
influence, and our confidence in its aid, so 
far from forbidding or discouraging efforts 
to cultivate our minds, and to enrich them 
with appropriate furniture for leading the 
the devotions of our fellow worshippers, 
ought rather to excite to unwearied dili- 
gence in making the best preparation in our 
power for discharging in the best manner, 
this as well as every other duty of the 
sanctuary. We ought to desire, to ask, 
* Zech. xii. 10. f Rom. viii. 27. 


18 


THOUGHTS ON 


and to expect the aid of the Holy Spirit 
in preaching, and in the prosecution of 
all our studies and duties. But would any 
man in his senses imagine that the expecta¬ 
tion of such aid was adapted to discourage 
the use of appropriate means for enlarging 
and invigorating the mind, and filling it 
with useful knowledge, and with the ma¬ 
terials for the best judgment and taste in 
divine things? In all spiritual influence, 
God deals with us as rational creatures; 
not by superseding or suspending the use 
of our natural faculties; but by so quicken¬ 
ing, elevating, enriching and strengthening 
them, as to make them capable of greatly 
improved exercise. I hope, therefore, that 
every candidate for the holy ministry will 
bear in mind that as his pulpit work is his 
great work, so every part of that work is 
vitally important, and ought to be studied 
and prepared for, with unceasing diligence. 
Instead of stopping to balance whether 
the instruction or devotion of the sacred 
desk is the more important, or the more 
worthy of his regard, let him resolve to 
prepare for both, and to discharge both in 
the best possible manner. This is the only 


PUBLIC rRAYER, 


19 


resolution worthy of him who desires to 
make the most of every talent he possesses, 
and of every opportunity he enjoys, for the 
glory of his Master in heaven. 

In regard to the best preparation for 
leading in social, and especially in public 
prayer, there are two things worthy of 
particular notice; the one is what has been 
called the spirit, or grace of prayer; the 
other is what has been denominated the 
gift of prayer. 

1. By the spirit or grace of prayer, is to 
be understood that truly devout state of 
mind which corresponds with the nature 
and design of the exercise. He has the 
spirit of prayer who engages in that duty 
with serious, enlightened, cordial sincerity; 
with that penitence, faith, love, and holy 
veneration which become a renewed sinner, 
in drawing near to God to ask for things 
agreeable to his will. Even if he have 
w^eak intellects, but little knowledge of theo¬ 
logical truth, and a very imperfect command 
of appropriate language, yet if he have a 
heart filled with love to God, with confi¬ 
dence in the Saviour, and with ardent 
desires to be conformed to his image, a heart 


20 


THOUGHTS ON 


broken and contrite for sin, breathing after 
holiness, and earnestly desiring the enjoy¬ 
ment of covenant blessings—in a word, a 
heart in which the Holy Spirit dwells and 
reigns, that man has the spirit of prayer, the 
grace of prayer. Though his words be few, 
though his utterance be feeble and embar¬ 
rassed, though his feelings be poured out in 
sighs and groans, rather than in appropriate 
language, he may be said to “pray in the 
spirit”—to pray in such a manner as will 
never fail to enter into the ears of “the Lord 
of Sabaoth.” Hence we read of the prayer 
of faith (James v. 15); of the effectual fer¬ 
vent prayer of the righteous man which 
availeth much (James v. 16); of the spirit of 
grace and supplication (Zech. xii. 10); of 
the Holy Spirit helping our infirmities in 
prayer, and making intercession for us with 
groanings which cannot be uttered (Rom. 
viii. 26); and of God sending forth the 
Spirit of his Son into our hearts, enabling 
us to cry, Abba Father (Gal. iv. 6). 

2. By the gift of prayer is to be under¬ 
stood that combination of natural and spirit¬ 
ual qualities which enables any one to lead 
in prayer in a ready, acceptable, impres- 


PUBLIC v PRAYER. 


21 


sive, and edifying manner; that suitableness 
and scriptural propriety of matter, and that 
ardour, fluency, and felicity of expression 
which enable any one so to conduct the 
devotions of others, as to carry with him the 
judgment, the hearts, and the feelings of all 
whose mouth he is to the throne of grace. 

These qualities are not always united in 
those who lead in public prayer. On the 
one hand, there may be much of the spirit 
of prayer, that is, much of a spiritual and 
devout frame of mind; much sincerity and 
even ardour of devotion, where the topics of 
prayer are not happily selected or arranged; 
where the language is not well chosen; 
where the utterance is embarrassed; and 
where the voice is grating, ill-managed, and 
unpleasant. So that, while we have no 
doubt of the sincerity, and even ardent piety 
of him who leads us to the throne of grace, 
our pleasure in uniting with him is not a 
little diminished by the infelicity of his dic¬ 
tion and manner. It cannot be doubted, 
however, that where there is a large mea¬ 
sure of the spirit of prayer, there we are 
most apt to find, and commonly do find, a 
corresponding measure of the gift of prayer. 

3 


22 


THOUGHTS ON 


On the other hand, there may be much of 
the gift of prayer, where there is, so far as 
we can judge by appearances, but little of 
the spirit. That is, there may be much 
skill in the selection of topics, in offering up 
the prayers of the public assembly; much 
happiness of expression; much fluency of 
utterance; and much sweetness and solem¬ 
nity of voice, where we have reason to 
believe, there is but little of the spirit of fer¬ 
vent and elevated devotion. I have known 
a few instances of this kind so remarkable, 
as to excite universal observation. Nay, I 
can call to mind one example of the gift of 
prayer being possessed in a pre-eminent 
degree, where there was every reason to 
believe, from subsequent events, that there 
was no Christian sincerity at all; while 
I have sometimes seen men of decided and 
even eminent piety, who did not appear to 
as much advantage in the devotional exer¬ 
cises, as in the expository and instructive 
parts of their pulpit work. Even where a 
liturgy is used, there has often been observ¬ 
ed a striking inferiority in the reading of the 
prayers to the preaching of the officiating 
minister. The reverence, the solemnity, the 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


23 


touching tones which abounded in the latter, 
w r ere, in a great measure, wanting in the 
former. The happy union of the spirit and 
the gift of prayer, is the great object to be 
desired, and the attainment of which is so 
truly important to the acceptance, and espe¬ 
cially to the usefulness of every minister of 
the gospel. 

There are men in the ministry, as well as 
out of it—men no way remarkable either for 
the vigour of their talents or the extent of 
their learning, who, nevertheless, whenever 
they engage in social prayer, seem to be 
eminently in their element, and we may 
almost say inspired. So near and intimate 
are their approaches to the throne of grace; 
they are so obviously and immediately look¬ 
ing into heaven; so simply filial and ten¬ 
derly reverential are their appeals to their 
heavenly Father; so humble and endearing 
their importunity; so full of confidence and 
joy in a reconciled God, and of love to an 
enthroned Saviour; that it is really adapted 
to awaken and solemnize the worldly, and to 
animate believers to listen to them. O! if 
our public prayers were generally and habit- 


24 


THOUGHTS ON 


ually of this character, what impressive and 
heart-affecting results might be expected ! 

Now, if this be so, is there not in many 
who bear the sacred office, a painful evi¬ 
dence that they have never paid adequate 
attention to this important part of the service 
of the sanctuary? Are there not found 
those from whom something better might be 
expected, who habitually perform this por¬ 
tion of their pulpit work in a common-place, 
slovenly, and unedifying manner? Is it not 
supposable, nay, is it not manifest, that pub¬ 
lic prayer might be made a far more instruc¬ 
tive, impressive, and elevating exercise than 
it is commonly found to be ? Who that has 
been an intelligent and watchful observer of 
such things, has not known instances in 
which the spirit and the gift of prayer, have 
been so remarkably united and exemplified, 
as to captivate all hearts, and melt a whole 
assembly, and to leave an impression more 
deep and lasting than the most eloquent dis¬ 
course ? If this be so, and if ministers are 
commonly found to be interesting and useful 
in proportion to the degree in which they 
attain excellence in public prayer, then how 
powerful and solemn are the motives which 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


25 


ought to impel every candidate for the 
sacred office to aim at a high measure of this 
excellence, and to employ all the means in 
his power for attaining it! 

The more my attention is directed to this 
subject, the deeper is my persuasion that a 
large amount of the defects observable in the 
performance of public prayer, is to be refer¬ 
red, not altogether or mainly, to the want of 
piety, nor to the want of rich and varied 
talents, but to the want of an appropriate 
and adequate estimate being made of the 
importance of this part of the public service, 
and of suitable pains being taken to prepare 
for its happy discharge. So many examples 
in proof of this crowd upon my mind, that I 
cannot help referring to a few of them in 
confirmation of my statement. 

Few divines of the seventeenth century 
were favoured with higher endowments 
than the Rev. William Twisse, the first 
Prolocutor of the Westminster Assembly of 
Divines. He was fervently pious, profound¬ 
ly learned, and one of the most acute in¬ 
quirers and powerful reasoners of his day. 
In fact, he has been called the Bradwardine 
of his age. His works, in three volumes 
3 * 


26 


THOUGHTS ON 


folio, form a lasting monument of his vast 
erudition, and of his uncommonly diversified 
and vigorous powers of mind. But vre 
could hardly have a stronger proof of the 
high estimation in which he was held, than 
the fact that he was selected by the same 
Parliament which chose and called together 
the Westminster Assembly of Divines, to 
preside over the deliberations of that far- 
famed body, in wdiich he officiated as the 
presiding officer for about three years. 

Such a man might be expected to be 
gifted and ready in public prayer, as he 
undoubtedly was in preaching, and in every 
other part of the duties connected with his 
profession. But it is plain, from the repre¬ 
sentation of Baillie, one of the Scottish 
delegates to the Assembly, that Dr. Twisse, 
with all his accomplishments, was greatly 
lacking in some of the qualities which are 
eminently desirable in a good presiding 
officer, and in none more remarkably than 
in respect to extempore prayer.* In that 
exercise he would seem, from Baillie’s repre¬ 
sentation, to have been peculiarly deficient. 
“The man,” says Baillie, “as all the world 

* Baillie’s Letters, Vol. ii. p. 108. 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


27 


knows, is very learned, very good, beloved of 
all, and highly esteemed; but merely book¬ 
ish, and not much, as it seems, acquaint 
with conceived prayer, and among the un- 
fittest of all the company for any action. 
So after the prayer he sits mute.” To 
account for this, all that is necessary is to 
advert to the fact, that Dr. Twisse was bred 
and ordained in the Church of England; 
that he had been accustomed, during the 
greater part of the former period of his life, 
to the use of the liturgy in public worship; 
and, of course, had been but little in the 
habit of extemporary prayer.* And, al¬ 
though it is perfectly evident, from the pro¬ 
ceedings of the venerable body over which 

* It has been supposed and alleged by many that the mem¬ 
bers of the Westminster Assembly of Divines were Presby¬ 
terians by prejudice and by long habit anterior to their delib¬ 
erations and decisions in that body. It was, however, by no 
means so. All the English divines, without a single excep¬ 
tion, who sat in that Assembly, and two of the Scotch, had 
been Episcopally ordained; and their early prejudices and 
habits were in favour of the prelatical system of government 
and worship, and not against them. Some of them, we know, 
had been long convinced of the unscriptural character of that 
system; but others, and not a few, were brought to the same 
conviction by thorough and careful examination. They were 
evidently led to the views in which they ultimately rested by 
mature discussion, and a deliberate examination of God’s word. 


28 


THOUGHTS ON 


he presided, that his judgment was on the 
side of free, instead of prescribed prayer; yet 
it is probable that, from want of use, the 
method of conducting public prayer extem¬ 
poraneously was less easy and natural to 
him than the use of a form. We have only 
to suppose this, in order to account for the 
fact, that, with all his other pre-eminent 
accomplishments, he often appeared to a dis¬ 
advantage in conducting the devotions of a 
public assembly without a form. 

I have heard of a similar defect in the 
public prayers of the Rev. President Davies, 
of our own country, the author of seve¬ 
ral volumes of sermons of first rate ex¬ 
cellence. It would be difficult to name a 
collection of published sermons more rich in 
thought, more sound in evangelical doctrine, 
and, at the same time, more fervent, ani¬ 
mated, and solemn in their whole structure 
and style. In a word, when I have been 
called upon by theological students to spe¬ 
cify those sermons which I deemed best 
adapted to popular use, I have felt doubtful 
whether those of Davies ought not to occupy 
the very first place in the list. The reader 
of those sermons would be ready to antici- 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


29 


pate for their author not only real but very 
high excellence in every other part of the 
public service, as well as in preaching. Yet 
I have understood, that with all the acknow¬ 
ledged ardour of his piety, and all the rich 
exuberance of his genius, so apparent in 
every thing that he penned, he was by no 
means either ready or fluent in public 
prayer; but was, at least often, hesitating, 
apparently embarrassed, and far from mani¬ 
festing that peculiar felicity of thought or 
expression for which he was so remarkable 
in his sermons. The probability, indeed, is 
that President Davies was not a good extem- 
poriser in any thing. The tradition is, that 
he always read his sermons, which, though 
the universal practice of the established 
clergy in Virginia, in his day, had been 
seldom or never allowed among Presbyte¬ 
rian ministers, especially in the middle and 
southern colonies. Yet still, though he 
always carried his manuscripts into the 
pulpit and read his discourses, he read them 
with a degree of freedom, animation, and 
fervour which led many good judges to say, 
that they would almost as soon hear him at 
any time as George Whitefield. The proba- 


30 


THOUGHTS ON 


bility, then, is, that never having cultivated 
his extemporaneous powers, and having 
never paid particular attention to prepara¬ 
tion for public prayer, his literary sensibility 
and taste led him often to hesitate in prayer 
for the selection of appropriate thoughts and 
expressions, and thus gave rise to the im¬ 
pression, which was undoubtedly made on 
some minds, that he was less ready, less 
gifted, and less excellent in public prayer 
than in preaching. Such a fertile mind and 
warm heart as his, could not have manifested 
a want of prompt and appropriate furniture 
for any part of the public service, if he had 
been induced early to pay the same degree 
of attention to it that he evidently had paid 
to his preaching. 

The biography of the late Rev. Robert 
Hall, of the Baptist denomination in En¬ 
gland, records the existence of the same 
remarkable defect in the public prayers of 
that eminent man. Few, it is presumed, 
will hesitate to place Mr. Hall very high* 
if not absolutely at the head, of the eloquent 
preachers of his day. In some respects, 
he was considered as superior in genius 
and in taste to Dr. Chalmers; and beyond 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


31 


all doubt, in his resources as an extempo¬ 
raneous speaker, he had greatly the ad¬ 
vantage of his illustrious Scottish contem¬ 
porary. Yet of this wonderful preacher, 
his friend and admirer, John Foster, thus 
speaks in regard to the subject under con¬ 
sideration.* 

“ His manner of public prayer considered 
as an exercise of thought, was not exactly 
what would have have been expected from 
a mind constituted like his. A manner so 
different in that exercise from its operation 
in all other employments, could hardly 
have been unintentional; but on what prin¬ 
ciple it was preferred, cannot be known 
or conjectured. But it is to the intellectual 
consistency and order of his thoughts in 
public prayer that I am adverting; as to 
the devotional spirit, there could be but 
one impression. There was the greatest 
seriousness and simplicity, the plainest char¬ 
acter of genuine piety, humble and prostrate 
before the Almighty. Both solemnity and 
good taste forbade indulgence in any thing 
showy, or elaborately ingenious, in such 
an employment. But, there might have 

* Hall’s Works, Vol. iii. p. 98. 


32 


THOUGHTS ON 


been, without an approach to any such 
impropriety, and as it always appeared to 
me, with great advantage, what I will ven¬ 
ture to call a more thinking performance 
of this exercise; a series of ideas more 
reflectively conceived, and more connected 
and classed, if I may express it so, in their 
order.” The writer then goes on to point 
out, in a diffuse and circuitous manner, 
what he deems to have been the faults of 
Mr. Hall’s public prayers. He supposes 
their principal faults to have been that they 
did not abound in connected thought; that 
they were not adapted to' arrest and fix the 
attention of a worshipping assembly; that 
they seldom had any sensible connexion 
wfith his discourse; and that in intercession, 
especially for those who might be supposed 
to. be present in the assembly, he was apt 
to dwell too long, and by excess of person¬ 
ality to encroach on the province of appro¬ 
priate reserve, and sometimes of strict deli¬ 
cacy. In short, it may be gathered from 
Foster’s statement, that while Mr. Hall 
poured his whole soul, with all its learning, 
logic, exquisite taste, and fervid feelings into 
his sermons, he left his prayers to take 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


33 


care of themselves, and bestowed upon them 
but little thought and no preparation. 

I have only to add to this list of illus¬ 
trious delinquents, the late Dr. Chalmers, 
of Scotland.., Perhaps it is not too much to 
say, that this wonderful man, at the time 
of his decease, and for twenty years before, 
had been in some respects, the greatest 
preacher in the world. In grasp and com¬ 
prehension of mind; in large, practical 
statesman-like views on all subjects of eccle¬ 
siastical policy; in a capacity for profound 
investigation; in fervid, overpowering elo¬ 
quence; and all this united with a simple, 
child-like piety, it would not be easy to 
name an equal, or even a second. 

And yet, with all this transcendent excel¬ 
lence as a preacher, felt by all, and acknow¬ 
ledged by all who ever heard him, this 
extraordinary individual, in public prayer 
was but a common man; nay, scarcely equal 
to multitudes of inferior men, toward whom 
but little expectation was directed. One of 
the most enlightened and ardent admirers 
of that great man, with whom I have 
conversed, acknowledged that “he had not 
what is commonly called the gift of prayer”: 

4 


34 


THOUGHTS ON 


insomuch that many strangers who went to 
hear him, expecting to find him great in 
every thing, and, from his first utterance, 
deeply interesting, have been ready to doubt 
whether it was the same man who made 
the first prayer who afterwards preached, 
or at least to mark a wonderful disparity 
between the prayer and the sermon. 

It is difficult to account for facts of this 
sort, without referring them simply to the 
want of that attention to the subject of pub¬ 
lic prayer, which is ordinarily necessary 
to the attainment of excellence in that or in 
any other department of the public service. 
True, it may be said, Dr. Chalmers seldom 
allowed himself to utter in public a sentence 
which he had not written, and was uni¬ 
versally known never to excel in extempore 
speaking. But can it be doubted that the 
same pre-eminent intellectual vigour, the 
same ardent piety, and the same pecu¬ 
liar w r armth of utterance which gave such 
a deeply impressive character to all his 
other pulpit performances, would have been 
equally effectual in imparting the richest 
character to all the devotional exercises of 
the sancfuary over which he was called 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


35 


to preside, if they had been with equal dili¬ 
gence directed to the object? 

Nothing can be further from my aim in 
referring to the cases of these truly great 
and good men, than to detract in the least 
degree from their exalted reputation. This 
would be as unwise, as unjust. My sole 
object is to impress on the mind of every 
reader, what I wish to be considered as the 
leading principle of this volume, viz: that, 
even in the hands of the most able and pious 
men, high excellence in public prayer is not, 
ordinarily^ to be attained without much 
enlightened attention being directed to the 
acquirement. 

There are certain views of public prayer 
which, however obvious, and however inter¬ 
esting, must be forgotten or overlooked, 
before slight impressions of its importance, 
or a materially incorrect estimate of its ap¬ 
propriate characteristics can be admitted. 
This prayer is, of course, to be considered 
as the united act of him who leads, and of 
all who join him in the exercise. Were it 
to be regarded as merely the vocal utterance 
of %he wants and desires of the individual 
who presides and leads, it would be by no 


36 


THOUGHTS ON 


means invested with the responsible and 
touching character which really belongs to 
it. But, when regarded as the joint and 
humble supplication of hundreds of penitent 
and believing souls, all engaged in pouring 
out their hearts to the God of salvation, it 
assumes an aspect, not only deeply interest¬ 
ing, but eminently adapted to enlist and ele¬ 
vate all the most devout feelings of the wor¬ 
shippers. What an important office does he 
occupy, who undertakes to be the leader in 
such an exercise! How full, at once, of re¬ 
sponsibility and of interest! What presence 
of mind, what self-possession, what enlight¬ 
ened and ardent piety, what judgment, what 
taste, what a delicate perception of the wants 
and the privileges of the people of God, and 
what power to express them aright, are in¬ 
dispensable to the appropriate and the suita¬ 
ble discharge of this high duty! 

In order to bring to a simple and practical 
test, what we ought to expect, and what 
ought to be aimed at in such an exercise, let 
us imagine that we were listening to an 
humble, penitent, fervently pious Christian, 
pouring out his soul to God, in his retired 
closet, and when he supposed that no other 


rUBLIC PRAYER. 


37 


ear than that of his Father in heaven heard 
his voice. What should we expect to over¬ 
hear as the utterance of such a heart? 
Surely we should expect to hear him pour¬ 
ing forth his desires in simple, humble, 
unaffected terms. We should, of course, 
expect every thing like the glitter of rheto¬ 
ric, every thing like philosophical refine¬ 
ment, or laboured logical distinction, every 
thing approaching the didactic delineation 
of doctrine, every thing, in short, adapted to 
meet any other ear than that of the God of 
mercy, or to answer any other purpose than 
to express repentance toward God, faith in 
the Lord Jesus Christ, and simple, humble 
desire for the blessings asked for, to be far 
away. The moment any thing of this kind 
should be detected in the language, the 
tones, or the topics of the bending Christian, 
professing to be engaged in his secret devo¬ 
tion, that moment a chilling doubt would 
come over us, whether he could be more 
than half in earnest. 

When we apply the same test to a consid¬ 
erable portion of the public prayer in which 
we are called to unite, can we avoid being 
driven to the same conclusion? How often, 

4 :^ 


38 


THOUGHTS ON 


instead of the language of cordial desire, the 
tones of deep feeling, and the whole manner 
of importunate suppliants, filled with awe 
before the majesty of God, and pleading for 
mercy with all the earnestness of broken 
and contrite hearts, are we compelled to 
hear either, on the one hand, effusions in 
which the invention of the leader is more 
prominent than his devotion, and sometimes 
in which the skill of the theologian, and 
even the taste of the rhetorician are more 
conspicuous than the mourning for sin, the 
deep humility and the affectionate confi¬ 
dence of the believer pleading for his life; 
or, on the other hand, effusions marked by 
cold and careless indifference, and in which 
words of course appear to flow from the 
lips without feeling, and scarcely with con¬ 
scious purpose! 

The model here to be aimed at, and the 
best means of attaining some degree of con¬ 
formity to it, will be considered in a subse¬ 
quent chapter. In the mean time I may be 
permitted to express deep regret that this 
subject has not engaged more of the atten¬ 
tion of ministers of the gospel, and that there 
are so many examples of deplorable delin- 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


39 


quency in regard to this part of the public 
service. If it were not so, we should not so 
frequently find the members of our congre¬ 
gations satisfied if they reach the house of 
God in time to hear our sermons, after all 
the preceding prayers are over. If it were 
not so, we should much more seldom find 
those who do attend in time to unite in our 
prayers, gazing about as if they felt no 
interest in the exercise, or sitting with as 
much indolence as if they considered what 
was passing as nothing to them. It will, 
perhaps, be said that the same gazing about, 
the same apparent want of interest are often 
manifested by multitudes, while the best 
composed liturgy is read. This is, no doubt, 
true. But the reason of this is, that the 
formula read lacks that life and power which 
are adapted to take hold of the minds of men, 
equally with the extemporaneous prayer. 
We hold the latter to be inferior to what it 
might and ought to be, if it be not far more 
adapted to arrest the attention and impress 
the mind than any recited form can be. 

Nothing can be more certain than that 
appropriate and adequate attention to this 
subject would be rewarded with very differ- 


40 


THOUGHTS ON 


eiit results. It may be said, without fear 
of contradiction, that there is no part of the 
service of the sanctuary more capable of 
being moulded to any thing that an intelli¬ 
gent and pious heart can desire, or of having 
stamped Upon it a richness and variety; a 
solemnity, and tenderness; a force of appeal, 
and a melting pathos which scarcely any 
other mode of presenting the great princi¬ 
ples of intercourse between God and the 
redeemed soul are capable of having con¬ 
ferred upon them. 

The ministers and members of the Pres¬ 
byterian Church have reason to be thank¬ 
ful that they belong to a body, which is 
not restrained by any secular power from 
making such improvements in their system 
of worship as the word of God, and more 
ample experience may dictate; and that 
they are not tied down by ecclesiastical 
authority to the rigorous use of forms, 
which some may find a painful burden to 
conscience. Whatever is most agreeable to 
the word of God, and most edifying to the 
body of Christ, we are, happily, at full 
liberty to introduce, and progressively to 
modify. Happy will it be for us if we 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


41 


shall be wise enough to make « constant and 
faithful improvement of this privilege! 

If the following pages shall be made by 
the great Head of the Church, in the least 
degree to promote an increased attention to 
this part of the service of the sanctuary; to 
correct, in a single individual, that negli¬ 
gence which has too often obscured the 
excellence of public prayer; and especially 
if they shall stimulate any of those who may 
peruse them, to aim at that elevated char¬ 
acter with which the devotions of the sanc¬ 
tuary ought to be, and might be invested, 
the writer will deem himself richly re¬ 
warded for his labour. 


42 


# 


CHAPTER II. 

HISTORY OF PUBLIC PRAYER. 

As prayer is a dictate of nature, as well as 
a duty required by the express command of 
our Master in heaven, we may take for 
granted that it has early and always made 
a part of the services of public as well as of 
private religion. Some, indeed, have sup¬ 
posed that social prayer was unknown until 
the time of Enos, as recorded in Gen. iv. 26. 
But this is by no means probable. As 
the visible Church was constituted in the 
family of Adam, we must suppose that 
social prayer in some form was habitually 
performed. That it entered into the wor¬ 
ship of the ceremonial economy of the Old 
Testament, is abundantly evident, as well 
from the book of Psalms, as from the histori¬ 
cal records of important events during that 
economy. In the temple service, indeed, 
there seems, to have been no system of com¬ 
mon prayer. There were, it is true, “ hours 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


43 


of prayer,” and many and “long prayers” 
were there offered up; but these seem to 
have been by individuals, each one pray¬ 
ing for himself, and by himself, and in all 
manner of words and ways. Of two men 
who “went up to the temple to pray,” each 
one by himself, we have a very graphic 
account in Luke xviii. 10. They had in 
the temple service, sacred music, and sacer¬ 
dotal benedictions; but never any system of 
prescribed joint prayer. The ceremonial of 
the temple was made up of sacrifices, ablu¬ 
tions, burning incense, and minutely enjoin¬ 
ed rites of various kinds; but there is not 
a shadow of evidence that it included a 
prescribed liturgy, or a system of pre¬ 
pared and commanded devotional exercises. 
There were, indeed, solemn prayers on spe¬ 
cial and extraordinary occasions in which 
multitudes joined; such as those uttered by 
Solomon;* by king Asa;f by Hezekiah;J 
by Ezra;§> and by Jehoshaphat.|| But nei¬ 
ther in the daily or the sabbatical service of 
the temple, as commonly conducted, does 
there appear to have been any regular or 

* 1 King’s viii. 22. f 2 Chron. xiv. 11. | Isa. xxxvii. 15. 

$ Ezra ix. 5, 6. || 2 Chron. xx. 5. 


44 


THOUGHTS ON 


established provision for public or joint 
prayer; and with respect to the prayers 
offered on the special occasions above refer¬ 
red to, no one can read them without per¬ 
ceiving that they were extemporaneous effu¬ 
sions, growing out of the occasions which 
led to their utterance, and which precluded 
the possibility of their being governed by a 
previously adapted form. 

Public prayer also formed an important 
part of the service of the Jewish synagogue, 
that moral institution, which, from an early 
period, certainly from the time of Ezra, 
constituted the regular sabbatical worship of 
the Jewish people. In what manner the 
prayers of the synagogue were conducted 
before the coming of Christ, has been the 
subject of no small controversy. The learn¬ 
ed Bingham, in his “ Antiquities of the 
Christian Church,” and Dr. Prideaux, in 
his “Connections,”* assure us that it was 
by a regular liturgy. The latter professes, 
with great confidence, to give us, at large, 
“eighteen prayers,” which he alleges were in 
constant use in the synagogue service, long 
before the incarnation of the Saviour. But 

* Connections, Part i. Book vi. 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


45 


if this were so, or if the synagogue worship 
were conducted by the use of these prayers, 
or by any prescribed liturgy, it is wonderful 
that no hint of this alleged fact should be 
found in the Old Testament history, or in 
Josephus, or Philo. And, indeed, in the es¬ 
timation of good judges, these prayers were 
evidently composed “at a period when the 
service of God was no longer kept up in the 
temple; when the daily sacrifice had ceased; 
when Jerusalem was no longer their quiet 
abode; and when the Jews were scattered 
out of their own land, to the four quarters of 
the earth. They, consequently, prove the 
prayers to be posterior to the destruction 
of Jerusalem.”* 

The synagogue service was, in substance, 
the model of the early Christian Church. 
The titles and functions of the officers, and 
the form of worship were the same. The 
Jews, indeed, before the advent of the Sa¬ 
viour, had become deeply superstitious, and 
sunk in heartless formality. They “loved to 
pray standing at the corners of the streets,” 
and “for a pretence made long prayers;” but 
the worship of the synagogue seems to have 

* Whitaker’s Origin of Arianism, p. 301, 302. 

5 


46 


THOUGHTS ON 


been retained, when our Lord came in the 
flesh, not, indeed, in absolute purity, but in 
something of its original character. Accord¬ 
ingly, the Master himself and his inspired 
Apostles were in the habit of attending on 
its services, and sometimes of taking a lead¬ 
ing part in them. In all the accounts which 
are given in the New Testament history of 
the synagogue worship, and of the participa¬ 
tion in them of the Saviour and his Apostles, 
we do not find the remotest hint of a liturgy, 
or a prescribed form of prayer. Nor, from 
any other source have we the least evidence 
to that amount. 

In all the examples of prayer recorded in 
the Old Testament Scripture, whether pub¬ 
lic and social, or strictly private and per¬ 
sonal, we find nothing like a prescribed 
form, but in every case the topics presented 
and the language employed were evidently 
dictated by the occasion, and flowed spon¬ 
taneously from the present feelings of the 
heart. When Solomon, at the dedication of 
the Temple, in the midst of the congregated 
thousands of Israel, and on an occasion of 
transcendent national interest, prayed for the 
blessing of God on the newly erected edifice. 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


47 


and all who should worship in it, every 
thing that the sacred historian represents 
him as uttering, seems to have come warm 
from the heart, and the expression to have 
been all dictated by the desires and feelings 
of the moment.* In like manner, when 
king Jehoshaphat feared the invasion of a 
destroying army, he stood in the midst of the 
congregation of Judah and Jerusalem, in the 
house of the Lord, before the new court, and 
implored the protection of Jehovah, in a 
manner which, no reader can doubt, was not 
the recitation of a form, but the unstudied 
utterance of the heart.| And so, likewise, 
when Ezra, in a day of rebuke and of spirit¬ 
ual adversity, gathered around him the mul¬ 
titudes of God’s professing people, and lifted 
up his hands, and poured out his soul, as the 
mouth of the people, both the matter and 
manner of his prayer plainly evince that 
every thing about it was poured forth extem¬ 
poraneously, as an expression of the desires 
and feelings prompted by the solemn circum¬ 
stances in which he and the people were 
placed, without being governed by any form 
or monitor.^ The same remarks may be 

* 1 Kings viii. f 2 Chron. xx. | Ezra ix. 


48 THOUGHTS ON 

made respecting the prayer of the Levites, 
who, in the days of Nehemiah, after reading 
in the book of the Law of the Lord their God, 
confessed their sins, and worshipped the Lord 
their God. All is apparently unstudied, and 
prompted by the desires and feelings of the 
moment. Their prayer was long, minute, 
entering into a variety of particulars of their 
history; but throughout bearing the stamp 
of spontaneous and feeling earnestness.* 

The aspect of prayer, under the New 
Testament dispensation, is marked with 
greatly increased light, elevation, and en¬ 
largement. We find the glorious truths and 
hopes of the gospel exhibited no longer 
4 ‘through a glass darkly,” but with “open 
face.” Instead of teaching by types, and 
shadows, and carnal ordinances, every thing, 
under this economy, appears more simple, 
more spiritual, and more divested of external 
formality. Surely nothing less and nothing 
different from this could have been expected 
under a dispensation in which life and 
immortality were brought into full light, 
and in which the infancy of the Church had 
given place to perfect manhood in Christ 

* Nehemiah ix. 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


49 


Jesus. Under this dispensation, of course, 
we find prayer assuming a language and a 
tone of more light, enlargement, liberty, and 
filial confidence. 

Who can forbear to marvel then, when 
the light, the freedom, and the spirituality 
of prayer have received such manifest and 
rich improvement under the New Testa¬ 
ment dispensation, that there should be any, 
who, in regard to forms of praise, should 
insist that we are bound still to adhere to 
the Psalmody of the old economy? What 
would be thought of any one who, in 
preaching and in prayer, should contend 
that we are not warranted to advance 
beyond the restricted limits of the ceremo¬ 
nial economy? Why is it not equally won¬ 
derful that any, claiming to be eminently 
evangelical, should occupy this ground with 
regard praise? 

But, while prayer under the New Testa¬ 
ment dispensation has received large acces¬ 
sions of light, spirituality, and the spirit of 
adoption, it is quite as remarkably divested 
of all restraint and formality. We see a 
still more marked absence of all confinement 
to servile forms. 


5* 


50 


THOUGHTS ON 


Much use, indeed, in relation to this sub¬ 
ject, has been made of the form of prayer 
which Christ taught his disciples, common¬ 
ly called the Lord’s Prayer. But every 
circumstance connected with the delivery of 
that prayer, will convince all enlightened 
and impartial minds, that it furnishes no 
proof whatever of either the necessity or the 
duty of prescribing set forms of devotion. 
That it was never designed by our Lord to 
be adopted as a permanent and precise form 
of prayer, but only as a general directory, 
intended to set forth the proper topics, or 
appropriate matter for prayer, will appear 
evident from the following considerations. 

1. It was delivered by him on two differ¬ 
ent occasions and for two different purposes. 
The first time it made a part of the “ Ser¬ 
mon on the Mount,” and was introduced 
thus—“ When ye pray, use not vain repeti¬ 
tion, as the heathen do, for they think that 
they shall be heard for their much speaking. 
Be not ye, therefore, like unto them; for 
your Father knoweth what things ye have 
need of before ye ask him. After this man¬ 
ner, therefore, pray ye, Our Father, &c.” 
Here he merely intended to teach them how 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


51 


their petitions ought to be so simply and 
briefly expressed as to avoid “ vain repeti¬ 
tions.” The next occasion on which this 
prayer was delivered, was when one of his 
disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to 
pray.” Luke xi. 1. They suggested that 
this favour had been done by John to his 
disciples, and desired him to do the same for 
them. The Saviour then gave, a second 
time, the substance of what he had given in 
the Sermon on the Mount, intimating that, 
in its topics and its simplicity, it was 
adapted to their then situation. Nothing 
like rigorous confinement to a verbal form is 
intimated on either occasion; but the most 
unlimited freedom and enlargement of dic¬ 
tion. F or, 

2. Though delivered by the Saviour on 
two occasions, it is not given in the same 
words by any two of the evangelists. Of 
course it was not intended to be prescribed 
as a rigid form. 

3. As this prayer was given before the 
New Testament church was set up, so it is 
strictly adapted to the old, rather than the 
new economy. The kingdom of Christ 
which had long been an object of intense 


52 


THOUGHTS ON 


desire to the pious, had not yet been set up. 
And, therefore, the first petition in this 
prayer is —Thy kingdom come! It is, there¬ 
fore, strictly speaking, not a prayer entirely 
appropriate to the New Testament Church. 

4. There is in this prayer an entire 
want of what was afterwards prescribed 
by express precept from the same divine 
Master, viz: asking for all blessings in the 
name of Christ. Long after he delivered 
this prayer he said to his disciples, “Hither¬ 
to ye have asked nothing in my name.” 
He had not yet ascended into the holiest of 
all, as our Intercessor. But a short time 
before he ascended to appear in the presence 
of God for us, he assured his disciples that 
whatever they asked in his name should be 
given them. John xvi. 23, 24. And we are 
afterwards expressly commanded, “What¬ 
soever ye do, in word or deed, do all in the 
name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to 
God and the Father by him.” Can we 
suppose then, that a formula intended to 
serve as a model of prayer in all ages as a 
strictly verbal form, could be left entirely 
destitute of this essential feature of Chris¬ 
tian devotion? This was not a defect at the 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


53 


time it was given. That great event had 
not occurred, which would have rendered 
such a clause then appropriate and suitable. 
But had our blessed Master intended to 
prescribe a prayer which it should be in¬ 
cumbent upon his people in all future ages 
to use, as a complete form, he, surely, would 
not have omitted this essential reference to 
his own mediation and intercession. 

5. In this form of prayer we have no 
clause which recognizes thanksgiving for 
mercies received, which is represented in 
scripture both by precept and example, as 
so important a part of Christian devotion. 

Considering this prayer then as a part of 
the gracious words which proceeded from 
the lips of the Saviour, it is worthy of our 
highest regard, and of our diligent and 
devout study; but to adopt it now as con¬ 
taining all that is necessary to constitute a 
complete prayer under the full light and 
claims and privileges of the New Testament 
economy, must surely be considered as a 
virtual desertion of principles, which, as 
Christians, under the present dispensation 
we must ever acknowledge and hold fast, 
viz: that the kingdom of heaven, or the 


54 


THOUGHTS ON 


gospel dispensation, is already come; and 
that no Christian prayer is complete which 
does not include a reference to the merits 
and intercession of the great High Priest 
of our profession. Accordingly, 

6. After the resurrection and ascension of 
Christ, when the New Testament Church 
was formally set up, we read nothing more 
in the inspired history concerning the use 
of this form by the disciples of Christ. We 
have some of their prayers, after those 
events, recorded. But this is not found 
among them, and is nowhere referred to in 
the most distant manner as having been 
used. Through the many years which the 
New Testament history embraces, and the 
many specimens of prayer which it exhibits, 
we find no allusion, not even the most 
remote, to the prayer in question. So far as 
the inspired history informs us, it was never 
used during the apostolic age, when the 
religion of Christ appeared among men in 
its simplest and purest form. We find no 
evidence of its having been statedly intro¬ 
duced into public worship until several cen¬ 
turies after the death of the apostles; nay, not 
until grievous superstition and many innova 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


55 


tions on the primitive model had crept into 
the Church of God. 

From all these considerations, we may 
confidently infer that the Lord’s Prayer was 
never intended by its all wise Giver to be 
used as a strict and permanent form; and, of 
course, that it affords no argument in favour 
of prescribed liturgies. In this opinion we 
are fortified by the judgment of many indi¬ 
viduals, ancient and modern. The venera¬ 
ble Augustine, in the fourth century, ex¬ 
presses the decisive opinion that Christ, in 
delivering this prayer, gave it rather as a 
directory or general model, than as a form. 
He says expressly that he did not intend to 
teach his disciples what words they should 
use in prayer, but what things they should 
pray for; and he understands it to be meant 
chiefly as a guide for secret or mental prayer 
where carefully selected words are not ne¬ 
cessary.* In this opinion Grotius concurs, 
as appears in his commentary on Matt. vi. 

Again, there seems to be no hint of the 
use of precomposed forms of prayer in any 
of the instances of social worship recorded 
in the apostolic history. When Peter and 

* De Magistro, Cap, i. 


5G 


THOUGHTS ON 


John* were persecuted and threatened by 
the Jewish Council, when they returned to 
their companions, the whole company, we 
are told, with fervent feelings and grateful 
hearts, lifted up their voices and poured out 
their humble acknowledgments in language, 
every word of which bears the stamp of 
an unpremeditated outburst of spontaneous 
feeling. He who, on reading the whole nar¬ 
rative, can imagine that they followed in this 
prayer the words of a prescribed formulary, 
may be considered as prepared to believe 
any thing that his prejudices can suggest. 
Again, can any one imagine that the apostle 
Paul used a written form when he kneeled 
down and prayed with the elders of Ephe¬ 
sus, on taking leave of them, to see their 
faces no more?f Did Paul and Silas 
make use of a book when, at midnight, they 
prayed and sang praises unto God, in the 
prison at Philippi? £ Had Paul a liturgy 
when, at Tyre,§ he kneeled down on the sea¬ 
shore and prayed with a large body of dis¬ 
ciples, with their wives and childrep, who 
had kindly visited him and ministered to his 


* Acts iv. 24. 
f Acts xx. 36. 


| Acts xvi. 25. 
§ Acts xxi. 5. 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


57 


wants, when he touched at that city in the 
course of a long voyage? If so, where and 
by whom can we imagine a liturgy adapted 
to such an occasion to have been prepared? 
Can we suppose that the body of the pious 
people, male and female, who had assembled 
at the house of Mary, the mother of John 
Marie, to pray for the liberation of the Apos¬ 
tle Peter, made use of a form in pleading 
for tfte deliverance and usefulness of that 
eminent minister of Christ?* Is it possible 
to believe that the church at Ephesus was 
furnished with a prescribed liturgy, when 
Paul, in writing to Timothy, while there, 
thought it necessary to give him such 
pointed and specific directions concerning 
some of the topics proper to be introduced 
into public prayer? Surely if there had 
been a prayer-book in use there, the direc¬ 
tions given in 1 Tim. ii. 1, 2, would have 
been superfluous. All the proper objects of 
public prayer would, no doubt, have been 
already provided for. To imagine that such 
topics had been forgotten, or designedly 
omitted in an apostolic liturgy, would indeed 

* Acts xii. 12. 


6 


58 


THOUGHTS ON 


be a burlesque upon all formularies claiming 
such an origin. 

The truth is, in the New Testament his¬ 
tory of the early Church of Christ, public 
prayer is so little prominent, so little is said 
about it, that it is wonderful any advocate of 
liturgies should attempt to derive any argu¬ 
ment in favour of his cause from that source. 
Not a syllable is said which gives the least 
historical countenance to the existence, or 
the use of any such formularies as the advo¬ 
cates of this cause contend for. It is plain, 
that the whole subject was left to the dis¬ 
posal of Christian liberty and pious feeling. 

Equally without evidence are we that 
public forms of prayer were in use during 
the first five hundred years after the Apos¬ 
tles. 

The advocates of liturgies generally, in¬ 
deed, assert, without hesitation, that they 
were in constant use during the period in 
question. Yet they have never been able 
to produce the least solid evidence of such a 
fact. Still they abate nothing of the confi¬ 
dence of assertion. We are reduced, then, 
to what is commonly considered by logicians 
as a hard task, viz: that of 'proving a nega- 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


59 


tive. Yet even this, in the present instance, 
is an easy undertaking. 

When the learned Bingham, in his “ Ec¬ 
clesiastical Antiquities,” and other writers 
of similar views, assert, and endeavour to 
prove that liturgies were in constant use in 
the ages immediately succeeding that of the 
apostles, they endeavour to make good their 
assertion by such testimony as the follow¬ 
ing: That the early Christians had psalms 
and hymns which had been reduced to wri¬ 
ting, which were well known among them, 
and which they united in singing: that 
they had, for the most part, a form of words 
which was commonly employed in adminis¬ 
tering baptism, and the sacramental supper: 
that in blessing and dismissing the people, 
they usually repeated the apostolical bene¬ 
diction, or some received form of expression 
of an equivalent kind. These writers have 
not a single fact or testimony to show in 
support of their assertion but something of 
this kind. Now it is plain that all this may 
be granted without in the least degree help¬ 
ing their argument. We, of the Presbyte¬ 
rian Church, have all these, and yet we 
are generally considered, and by some re- 


60 


THOUGHTS ON 


proached, as having no liturgy . Nay, we 
know of no church on earth, of regular or¬ 
ganization, that has not psalms and hymns, 
and substantially a mode agreed upon, and 
commonly in use for administering the sa¬ 
craments, without being absolutely confined 
to a precise form of words. With regard to 
the use that has been made of psalms and 
hymns, in this controversy, as affording any 
countenance, on the principle of analogy, to 
liturgies, it is too weak and childish to be 
regarded as at all applicable. How is it 
possible for a worshipping assembly to unite 
in singing a psalm or hymn, unless both the 
words and the tune are previously known 
and, virtually if not formally, agreed upon? 
In this case, it is not possible to proceed 
a step without something prescribed and 
known beforehand. But all experience 
proves that no such prescribed form is need¬ 
ful in prayer. A single heart and mouth 
may utter that in which thousands, if they 
can hear the voice speaking, may cordially, 
and without inconvenience, unite. 

But the simple and only proper question 
here is, Had the Christian Church, during 
the first four or five centuries after Christ, 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


61 


prescribed forms according to which she 
conducted her ordinary prayers in public 
worship? If she had, it has certainly re¬ 
mained a secret until this time. No hint to 
that amount has survived in all the remains 
of antiquity. But so much has survived 
which speaks a contrary language, that it 
will prove an easy task to satisfy every im¬ 
partial inquirer, that, during the period in 
question, extemporary prayer, or, in other 
words, prayer conducted according to the 
taste and ability of each officiating minister, 
for the time being, without being trammelled 
by imposed forms, was the only method of 
public prayer in common use in the Chris¬ 
tian Church. 

If there had been in use in the early Chris¬ 
tian assemblies, forms of prayer to which 
their public devotions were confined, prayers 
would, of course, have been read , as they are 
now by all who use Liturgies. But any ex¬ 
pression indicating such a fact, is not found 
in any of the first five centuries from the 
apostolic age. The phrases avayiv^xstv *vxo.$, 
or preces leg ere , or de scripto recitare , &c., 
which were so common several centuries 
afterwards, never, so far as is recollected, 
6 * 


62 


THOUGHTS ON 


then occur in any one instance. We may, 
therefore, legitimately infer that the thing 
indicated by such phrases, was neither 
practised nor known in those times. 

But, more decisive still; in describing the 
prayers then offered up, the following ac¬ 
count is given by some of the earliest and 
most respectable writers. Justin Martyr 
tells us, that the president, or presiding 
minister, in the public worship of the con¬ 
gregation, prayed with his utmost ability, 
8waw,) Apol. 2. Origen speaks of the 
performance of public prayer in the same 
manner: “We worship,” says he, “one 
God, and his only Son, who is his Word 
and Image, with supplications and hon¬ 
ours, according to our ability, offering up 
to the God of the universe, prayers and 
praises, through his only begotten Son.”* 
And again: “ The Grecian Christians in 
Greek, the Romans in Latin, and every one 
in his own proper language, prays to God, 
and praises him as lie is abler \ The same 
writer, after speaking of the different parts 
of prayer, to which it was proper to attend, 
mentions, first, doxology or adoration, and 
says, He that prays must bless God accord - 
* Contra Celsum, Lib. viii. p. 386. f Ibid. 402. 


TUBLIC PRAYER. 


63 


ing to his power or ability , (*<**» &wanw).* And 
in the same work, in a preceding section, 
(the 10th,) he says, “ But when we pray, let 
us not battologize , (i. e. use vain repetitions,) 
but theologize. But we battologize , when we 
do not strictly observe ourselves, or the 
words of prayer which we express; when 
we utter those things which are filthy either 
to do, speak, or think; which are vile, wor¬ 
thy of reproof, and opposed to the purity of 
the Lord.” Why this caution, if they were 
furnished with regular prescribed liturgies? 

Tertullian, speaking on the same subject, 
says, “We Christians pray for all the empe¬ 
rors, &c., looking up to heaven, with our 
hands stretched out, because guiltless; with 
our heads uncovered, because we are not 
ashamed ; lastly, without a monitor, because 
from the heart” ( denique , sine monitore, quia 
cle pectore.)\ We learn also from Origen, 
that ministers in his day were accustomed, 
in public prayer, to officiate with closed 
eyes, which was wholly irreconcilable with 
reading a liturgy. “Closing,” says he, “the 
eyes of the body, but lifting up those of the 
mind.”f 

* De Oratione, sect. 22 . f Apol. cap. 30. 

% Contra Celsum, Lib. viii. p. 362. 


64 


THOUGHTS ON 


Every pastor or bishop, at this time, was 
considered as charged with the duty of con¬ 
ducting, according to his own judgment or 
taste , the public devotions of his congrega¬ 
tion ; and hence there was great, nay, endless 
diversity, as now, among those who use ex¬ 
tempore prayer, as to the manner in which 
this part of the public service was performed. 
Socrates Scholasticus, the ecclesiastical his¬ 
torian, who lived in the beginning of the fifth 
century, speaking of public prayer, expresses 
himself in the following unequivocal and 
strong language: “ Generally, in any place 
whatsoever, and among all worshippers, there 
cannot be two found agreeing to use the same 
prayers.”* Surely this could not have been 
alleged if there had been public, prescribed 
forms, habitually, or even frequently in use. 
In nearly similar language, Sozomen, the 
contemporary of Socrates, and who wrote 
the ecclesiastical history of the same period, 
after asserting and describing the uniformity 
of the public worship of Christians at that 
time, remarks, that, notwithstanding, “it 
cannot be found that the same prayers, 
psalms, or even the same readings, are used 

* Hist. Lib. v. cap. 21. 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


65 


by all at the same time.”* In like manner, 
Augustine, who was contemporary with 
these historians, speaking on the same sub¬ 
ject, says, “ there is freedom to use different 
words, ( aiiis • atque aliis verbis ,) i. e. some¬ 
times in one form of expression, and some¬ 
times in another—provided the same things 
are mentioned in prayer. ”f And to show 
that the prayers usually offered up in his 
day were extemporary prayers, he speaks of 
some ministers of the sanctuary, “who might 
be found using barbarisms and solecisms in 
their public prayers;” and cautioned those 
who witnessed them against being offended 
at such expressions, as God does not so much 
regard the language employed as the state of 
the heart, f Chrysostom tells us that, in his 
judgment, it required more confidence or 
boldness than Moses or Elias had, to pray as 
they were then wont to do before the Eu¬ 
charist. $ But what good reason can be as¬ 
signed why such confidence or boldness was 
necessary, if each conductor of prayer had a 
prayer-book before him, and had nothing to 
do but to read it? 

* Hist. Lib. vii. cap. 18. f ^> e Catechiz. Rudib. cap. 9. 

f Epistolse, 121. § He Sacerdot. Orat. iii. 46. 


66 


THOUGHTS ON 


The general fact, that in the early ages of 
the Christian Church, it was left to every 
pastor or bishop to conduct the public 
prayers of his congregation as he pleased, 
that is, as his judgment, taste, and ability 
might dictate, appears evident from a great 
variety and abundance of testimony. The 
circumstances, indeed, which have been al¬ 
ready stated, are sufficient of themselves to 
establish the fact. But many other wit¬ 
nesses might be summoned to prove the 
same thing. A single one, the venerable 
Augustine, will be sufficient. That father, 
having occasion to remark, that some of his 
brethren in the ministry had many things 
in their public prayers, especially in the ad¬ 
ministration of the Lord’s Supper, which 
were contrary to soundness in the faith, as¬ 
signs this reason for it. “ Many light upon 
prayers,” says he, “which are composed, not 
only by ignorant babblers, but also by here¬ 
tics; and through the simplicity of their 
ignorance, having no proper discernment, 
they make use of those prayers, supposing 
them to be good.”* How could this pos¬ 
sibly have happened, if the Church at that 

* De Baptismo, contra Donat. Lib. vi. cap. 25. 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


G7 


time had been in the use of prescribed litur¬ 
gies? And the remedy which the learned 
and pious father suggests for this evil, is 
quite as decisive in its bearing on the ques¬ 
tion before us, as the statement of the evil 
complained of. The remedy which he pre¬ 
scribes is, not to take refuge in a written 
form, or more closely to adhere to such a 
form; but for the weaker and more illiterate 
pastors to avail themselves of the counsel 
and aid of the more wise and learned among 
the neighbouring pastors, who were quali¬ 
fied to discern and point out any impro¬ 
prieties, and to suggest the best means of 
avoiding them. 

This whole matter will be better under¬ 
stood by adverting to the fact, that, as early 
as the age of Augustine, many men had 
crept into the sacred office, and some had 
even been made bishops, who were unable 
even to write their own names, and, of con¬ 
sequence, with ease to read writing. This 
appears, not only from other testimony, but 
from the records of several ecclesiastical Sy¬ 
nods or Councils about this time, in which 
bishops, when called upon to subscribe the 
canons of those councils, were obliged to get 


68 


THOUGHTS ON 


others to write their names for them. The 
following is a specimen of some of the sig¬ 
natures appearing on the records of those 
councils. “I, Helius, Bishop of Hadrianople, 
have subscribed by Myro, Bishop of Rome, 
being myself ignorant of letters.” Again: 
“I, Caiumus, Bishop of Phoenicia, have sub¬ 
scribed by my colleague, Dionysius, because 
I am ignorant of letters.” These examples 
of illiterate ecclesiastics, as early as the time 
of Augustine, serve, at once, to illustrate 
and confirm the complaint of that father. 
No wonder that such pastors were unable to 
conduct the public devotions of their respec¬ 
tive congregations in a decent and edifying 
manner, and, therefore, resorted to such 
prayers as they happened to meet with, to 
aid them in their official work. And, no 
wonder that, in their simplicity and igno¬ 
rance, they were often imposed upon by im¬ 
perfect and even corrupt compositions. 

It was before stated, that we not only 
find no traces of any books or prescribed 
forms of common prayer, in the first five 
hundred years after Christ; but that we do 
find a number of facts, incidentally men¬ 
tioned, which are wholly inconsistent with 


PUBLIC TRAYER. 


69 


the use of such books or forms. Some of 
these facts have been already alluded to, 
such as the general practice of praying with 
the eyes closed, and with the hands lifted 
up, and spread abroad towards heaven. 
Reading prayers, in these circumstances, 
was, of course, out of the question. An¬ 
other very significant fact, explicitly stated, 
was, that, in the third and fourth centuries, 
it was not considered as lawful, in any case, 
to commit to writing the prayers, and other 
parts of the public service used in admin¬ 
istering the Lord’s Supper. It was not 
thought proper that any other persons than 
communicants, for the most part, should be 
allowed to be present at the celebration, or 
to be made acquainted with what was said 
and done in dispensing that ordinance. And, 
in order to accomplish this concealment, com¬ 
mitting any part of these services to writing 
in any form, was solemnly prohibited. Basil, 
who flourished towards the close of the fourth 
century, tells us expressly,* that “ the words 
which they used in blessing the elements 
were not written; and that what they said 


De Spiritu Sancto, p. 273. 
7 


70 


THOUGHTS ON 


both before and after this blessing, were not 
from any writing.” He says the same con¬ 
cerning the prayers, &c., in the administra¬ 
tion of baptism. Now, when we recollect 
that of all the parts of the public service, as 
there are none more solemn, so there are 
none which have been more carefully regu¬ 
lated by prescribed forms, than the adminis¬ 
tration of the sacraments—insomuch, that 
several Protestant churches, which have 
never adopted public forms for other parts of 
their worship, have thought proper to pre¬ 
scribe them for the celebration of their seal¬ 
ing ordinances; we may confidently con¬ 
clude that, if there were not, at the period 
referred to, and, from the nature of the case, 
could not have been, any written forms for 
these ordinances, there were none for any 
other part of the public service. The same 
fact concerning the unlawfulness of commit¬ 
ting to writing the sacramental forms, is at¬ 
tested by many other writers within the first 
four or five hundred years after Christ.* 
Indeed it was, partly at least, on account of 
the fact, that the prayers, &c., connected 
with the administration of the sacraments, 

* Clarkson’s Discourse on Liturgies, pp. 38, 39. 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


71 


were not allowed to be committed to writing, 
or in any other way divulged, that those or¬ 
dinances were so commonly, in those early 
ages, popularly called mysteries . 

With respect to the alleged liturgies of St. 
Mark, St. James, &c., which are found so 
confidently displayed in Popish, and some 
other prayer-books, it is believed that all 
enlightened Protestants give them up as 
forgeries; and, in regard to the liturgies at¬ 
tributed to Chrysostom, Basil, &c., they are 
equally discredited by all competent judges. 
Bishop White, an English prelate, who 
lived in the stirring reigns of James I. and 
Charles I., delivers the following opinion: 
“ The liturgies/’ says he, “fathered upon St. 
Basil and St. Chrysostom, have a known 
mother, (to wit, the late Roman Church); 
but there is (besides many other just excep¬ 
tions) so great dissimilitude between the sup¬ 
posed fathers and the children, that they 
rather argue the dishonest dealings of their 
mother, than serve as lawful witnesses of 
that which the adversary intended to prove 
by them.”* 

We read of some of the early churches 

* Tracts Against Fisher, the Jesuit, p. 377. 


72 


THOUGHTS ON 


being supplied with copies of the sacred 
Scriptures; but not a word of their being 
supplied with prayer-books in any form. 
When the buildings in which the early 
Christians worshipped were seized, and an 
exact scrutiny made of their contents by the 
Pagan persecutors, w r e read of copies of the 
Bible being found, vessels for administering 
the Eucharist, and other articles, very mi¬ 
nutely described; but not a hint respecting 
forms or books of prayer. We meet with 
frequent instances of reading psalms; read¬ 
ing other portions of Scripture; reading 
narratives of the sufferings of martyrs; 
reading epistles from other churches, or from 
distinguished individuals, but not a syllable 
of reading prayers. When the multitude of 
Christians had so increased in Constanti¬ 
nople, that it was thought necessary to dis¬ 
tribute them into several churches, the Em¬ 
peror Constantine was desirous that all these 
churches should be furnished with the requi¬ 
site number of Bibles, and wrote to Euse¬ 
bius, of Caesarea, that copies of the Scrip¬ 
tures should be prepared accordingly. But 
if public prayers had then been performed 
by a liturgy, why did not the generous and 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


73 


munificent emperor give orders, at the same 
time, for a number of prayer-books?* Now 
all this is wonderful, if prayer-books, and 
reading prayers, had been in as common and 
stated use as many of the friends of liturgies 
assert, and would persuade us to believe. 
The very first document in the form of a 
prayer-book which we find mentioned in the 
records of ecclesiastical antiquity, is what is 
called Libellus Officialise mentioned in the 
twenty-fifth canon of the Council of Toledo, 
A. D. 633. This, however, seems to have 
been rather a brief “ Directory for the Wor¬ 
ship of God,” than a form, the use of which, 
in so many words, was prescribed.f 

Basil, in the fourth century, giving direc¬ 
tions about prayer, remarks, “ that there are 
two parts of this service; first, thanksgiving 
and praise, with self-abasement; and, se¬ 
condly, petition.” His advice is to begin 
with the former, and in doing it, to make 
choice of the language of Scripture. After 
giving an example of his meaning, he adds, 
“ When thou hast praised him out of the 
Scriptures, as thou art able,” (a strange 

* Eusebius’ Life of Constantine, B. iv. chap. 34. 

f Clarkson on Liturgies, pp. 14,15, &c. 

7 * 


74 


THOUGHTS ON 


clause, truly, if all had been prepared and 
prescribed before-hand, and read out of a 
book!) “then proceed to petition.”* 

The result is, that liturgies were unknown 
in the primitive church; that, as piety began 
to decline, and ministers, destitute of the ap¬ 
propriate intellectual and moral qualifications 
began to multiply, some extra aid in con¬ 
ducting public devotions became necessary; 
that still it was left to each pastor himself to 
obtain the aid which he needed, as he 
thought proper; and that prescribed forms 
of prayer did not obtain general and estab¬ 
lished prevalence until the Church had sunk 
into a state of ignorance, darkness and cor¬ 
ruption, which all Protestants acknowledge 
to have been deplorable. 

The first account we find in Christian an¬ 
tiquity of a prescribed form for administer¬ 
ing the Lord’s Supper, is that found in the 
sixth century, by Gregory the Great, bishop 
of Rome, and commonly called the Canon of 
the Mass, or a prescribed office for administer¬ 
ing the Lord’s Supper. Gregory, in deliver¬ 
ing this formula to the venerable ecclesiastic 
to whom it was first committed, recognizes 

* Clarkson on Liturgies, p. 120. 


TUBLIC PRAYER. 


75 


the love of variety in public devotions as ex¬ 
isting, and as proper to be consulted; declares 
that he did not wish to be considered as im¬ 
posing one form only on any part of the 
Church, and that his opinion, as well as his 
practice, had always been in favour of in¬ 
dulging the love of variety. 

In accordance with all this, the celebrated 
Augusti, a learned German, the author of a 
work on Ecclesiastical Antiquities, generally 
considered as the most profound and accu¬ 
rate that any age has produced, decides the 
question in regard to the existence of pre¬ 
scribed liturgies in the early church, in the 
following positive and pointed manner:— 
“ That such an assertion (in favour of the 
early use of such forms) should have found 
defenders at an earlier period, when histori¬ 
cal criticism was so little practised, is not to 
be wondered at; but that modern Catholic 
writers should have ventured to repeat it, is 
certainly remarkable. The best doctors of 
that church (the Romish) such as Bona, 
Bellarmine, Baronius, Le Nourry, Natalis 
Alexander, Tillemont, Du Pin, Muratori, 
Renaudot, Asseman, and others, have proved 
the opinion (of the early existence of pre- 


76 


THOUGHTS ON 


scribed liturgies) to be utterly untenable; 
and yet, such is the force of prejudice, and 
such the zeal for favourite hypotheses, that 
they will not yield even to the clearest de¬ 
monstrations of an impartial criticism.”* 

The opinion of Lord Chancellor King, an 
eminent member of the established Church 
of England, in his celebrated work on the 
“Constitution and Order of the Christian 
Church, during the first three hundred years 
after Christ,” is no less decisive. It is ex¬ 
pressed in the following terms: 

“ Now these prayers, which made up a 
great part of the divine service, were not 
stinted and imposed forms; but the words 
and expressions of them were left to the pru¬ 
dence, choice, and judgment of every par¬ 
ticular bishop or minister. I do not here 
say, that a bishop or minister used no arbi¬ 
trary form of prayer; all that I say is, there 
were none imposed. Neither do I say, that, 
having no imposed form, they unpremedita- 
tedly, immethodically, or confusedly, vented 
their petitions and requests; for, without 
doubt, they observed method in their prayers: 
but this is vrhat I say, that the words or 

* Augusti Denkder Christlichen Archreologie, iv. 206. 


TUBLIC PRAYER. 


77 


expressions of their prayers were not im¬ 
posed or prescribed; but every one that 
officiated, delivered himself in such terms as 
best pleased him, and varied his petitions 
according to the present circumstances and 
emergencies: or, if it be more intelligible, 
that the primitive Christians had no stinted 
liturgies or imposed forms of prayer.” 

“ Now, this being a negative in matter of 
fact, the bare assertion of it is a sufficient 
proof, except its affirmative can be evinced. 
Suppose it were disputed whether ever St. 
Paul wrote an epistle to the church of Rome; 
the bare negation thereof would be proof 
enough that he did not, except it could be 
clearly evidenced, on the contrary, that he 
did. So unless it can be proved that the 
ancients had fixed liturgies and prayer- 
books, w r e may very rationally conclude, in 
the negative, that they had none.” 

“ Now, as to these prescribed forms, there 
is not the least mention of them in any of the 
primitive writings, nor the least word or syl¬ 
lable tending thereunto that I can find; 
which is a most unaccountable silence, if 
ever such there were; but rather some ex¬ 
pressions indicating the contrary.”* 

* Inquiry, Part ii. pp. 33, 34. 


78 


THOUGHTS ON 


In coincidence with these statements, the 
learned Clarkson, after his profound investi¬ 
gation of the history of liturgical formularies, 
comes to the following conclusion: “ And 
now I may, from the premises conclude, that, 
for five hundred years after Christ (if not 
more) the ordinary w 7 ay of worshipping God 
in public assemblies, was not by prescribed 
liturgies. This may suffice, and is sufficient 
for my purpose. They were not the com¬ 
mon usage, while the state of the Church 
was any thing tolerable, nor till it was sunk 
deep into degeneracy. They were not enter¬ 
tained, till nothing was admitted into the 
Church, de novo , but corruptions, or the issue 
thereof; no change made in the ancient 
usages but for the worse; no motions from 
its primitive posture, but downward into de¬ 
generacy; till such orders took place as 
respected, not what was most agreeable to 
the rule and primitive practice, or what was 
best adapted to uphold the life and power of 
religion, in its solemn exercises, or what 
might secure it from that dead, heartless for¬ 
mality into which Christianity was sinking, 
and which is, at this day, the sediment of 
Popery; but what might show the power, 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


79 


and continue the occasion for the exercise of 
authority to the imperious and tyrannical; 
or what might comport with the ease of the 
lazy and slothful, or what might favour the 
weakness and insufficiency, and not detect 
the lameness and nakedness of those who 
had the place and name, but not the real 
accomplishments of pastors and teachers. 
In a word, not till the state of the Church 
was rather to be pitied than imitated; and 
what was discernible therein different from 
preceding times were wrecks and ruins, 
rather than patterns.”* 

But all further argument or testimony on 
this subject may be spared, since some of the 
most zealous and competent advocates of 
liturgies have acknowledged that written 
forms of prayer had no existence in the apos¬ 
tolic church, nor until several centuries after 
the apostolic age. Mr. Palmer, a minister 
of the Church of England, now living, who 
is, perhaps, as zealous and as truly learned 
an advocate of the rites and forms of that 
church as any late writer that could be 
named, acknowledges that, for the first four 
centuries, there were no written liturgies; 

* Discourse on Liturgies, pp. 181. 197. 


80 THOUGHTS ON 

but that those who officiated in conducting 
public prayer, prayed either memoriter or 
extemporaneously.* When he speaks of 
prayers uttered memoriter , it is not easy to 
define with precision the ideas that he at¬ 
tached to this expression. If he means, as 
he probably does, that those who led in pub¬ 
lic prayer, during the first four hundred 
years, were accustomed to repeat much that 
rested on their memories which they had 
read in the Scriptures, or which they had 
heard from the lips of the eminent men 
whom they were accustomed to venerate as 
leaders in that service; may not precisely 
the same thing be said concerning a large 
part of what is called extemporaneous prayer 
now? Perhaps in regard to those who most 
eminently excel as leaders in free, social, 
and public prayer, it has always been true, 
that nine-tenths of all they ever uttered in 
this exercise, they had either found resting 
on their memories from the Bible, or recol¬ 
lected as having been heard from the lips of 
some respected leader in public devotion. 
Can any thinking man doubt that the “ me¬ 
moriter ” prayers of the first three or four 

* Origines Liturgicse i. pp. 9—12. 


/ 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


81 


centuries were to be thus explained? It is 
quite enough for our purpose, however, to 
confess, as this writer does, that there was 
not a single devotional office reduced to 
writing till the fourth century. 

As it is evident from the foregoing state¬ 
ments, that the Church made no provision 
for public formularies of devotion for the 
first five hundred years after Christ, but that 
all was left to the discretion of individual 
pastors; so it is equally evident, that, when 
liturgies were brought into general and estab¬ 
lished use, there was no uniformity, even 
among the churches of the same state or 
kingdom. The church at large neither pro¬ 
vided nor prescribed forms of prayer. Nor 
did any large portion of the visible churcli 
catholic make any such provision. Every 
pastor in his own parish, and, after Prelacy 
arose, every bishop in his own diocese, 
adopted what prayers he pleased; and even 
indulged to any extent he pleased, his taste 
for variety. This undoubted fact is itself 
conclusive proof that liturgies were not of 
apostolic origin. For if any thing of this 
kind had been known, as transmitted from 
inspired or even primitive men, it would, 
8 


82 


THOUGHTS ON 


doubtless, have been received and preserved 
with peculiar veneration. But nothing of 
this kind appears. Instead of this, it is evi¬ 
dent, that, as the practice of using written 
forms gradually gained ground, as piety de¬ 
clined, so the circumstances attending their 
introduction and prevalence were precisely 
such as might have been expected. They 
were adopted, not by the Church, but by 
each pastor who felt his need of them, or was 
inclined to make use of them. And, by and 
bye, when bishops were no longer the pas¬ 
tors of single congregations, but were set 
over larger dioceses, each bishop, within the 
compass of his own charge, took order in 
reference to this subject, as his talents or his 
inclination might dictate. This led, of course, 
to an almost endless variety. Accordingly, 
it is a remarkable fact, at once illustrating 
and confirming this statement, that when the 
Reformation commenced in England, the 
established Romish church in that country 
had no book of common prayer, no single, 
uniform liturgy for the whole kingdom, as 
now; there was a different one for the dio¬ 
cese of every bishop. And, accordingly, 
when, soon after the commencement of King 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


83 


Edward's reign, the principal ecclesiastical 
dignitaries of the kingdom were directed to 
digest and prepare one uniform Book of 
Prayer for the public service of the church 
of the whole kingdom, the commissioners 
appointed for this purpose collated and com¬ 
pared five Romish Missals of the several dio¬ 
ceses of Sarum, York, Hereford, Bangor, and 
Lincoln, and out of these popish forms com¬ 
piled their Book of Common Prayer. This 
book, at first, contained a number of things 
so grossly popish, that when it was read 
by Calvin and others, on the continent of 
Europe, to whom copies were sent for the 
professed purpose of submitting it to their 
judgment, and obtaining their opinion, their 
candid criticisms led to another review, and 
a considerable purgation. 

Calvin, in giving his opinion of this liturgy 
to Archbishop Cranmer, with perfect free¬ 
dom and candour, told him that he thought 
it contained a number of “ tolerabiles inep- 
tias ,” i. e. “ tolerable fooleries," which ought 
to be expunged. This was accordingly done. 
That is to say, the prayers for the dead— 
chrism—extreme unction, and other monu¬ 
ments of Papal superstition with which it 


84 


THOUGHTS ON 


abounded, were most of them put out in con¬ 
formity with his advice. Dr. Heylin, him¬ 
self a most prejudiced and bitter anti-Calvin- 
ist, declares, not only that these alterations 
were made, but that they were made in com¬ 
pliance with Calvin’s wishes. “ The former 
liturgy,” says he, “was discontinued, and 
the second superinduced upon it, to give 
satisfaction unto Calvin’s cavils, the curiosi¬ 
ties of some, and the mistakes of others, his 
friends and followers.”* The statement of 
Dr. Nichols is to the same amount. “ Four 
years afterwards,” says he, “the Book of 
Common Prayer underwent another review, 
wherein some ceremonies and usages were 
laid aside, and some new prayers added at 
the instance of Mr. Calvin, of Geneva, and 
Bucer, a foreign divine, who was invited to 
be a professor at Cambridge.”! But not¬ 
withstanding this expurgation of the Eng¬ 
lish liturgy, a number of articles were still 
left, acknowledged on all hands to have been 
adopted from the missals of the Church of 
Rome, which exceedingly grieved the more 
evangelical and pious portions of the English 

* History of the Presbyterians, pp. 12. 267. 

f Commentary on the Book of Common Prayer—Preface. 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


85 


Church, but which Queen Elizabeth, and the 
ecclesiastics around her person, refused to 
modify. Some of these articles have ever 
since remained in that liturgy, to the deep 
regret of many good men in the Church of 
England, and to the equal regret of some on 
this side of the Atlantic. 

It is worthy of notice here, as another fact 
which goes to establish our main position, 
that the same general principles which apply 
to the rise and progress of liturgies in the 
Romish Church, apply also to the Greek 
Church. The same late adoption of liturgi¬ 
cal formularies in both churches; the same 
endless diversity of forms when they were 
adopted; the fact, that their different formu¬ 
laries are entirely unlike, precluding the pos¬ 
sibility of their being derived from a common 
source, and especially an apostolical source; 
that the most ancient liturgies of each have 
been denounced by some of its own ministers 
and members as gross forgeries; and that 
the best authenticated bear internal marks of 
being mere human compilations, not authori¬ 
tative formularies, all serve to show that litur¬ 
gies were of human, and not of divine origin ; 
and that they took their rise in a declining 
8 * • 


86 


THOUGHTS ON 


state of piety. Whoever will be at the pains 
to consult the profound work of Augusti, the 
most accomplished modern Christian anti¬ 
quary, will find all this and more made out 
with a force of evidence which cannot fail 
to command the assent of every impartial 
mind. 

Let us now inquire when and how some 
•of the usagqs in public prayer, which super¬ 
stition has brought into the Church, crept 
into use in the Church of Rome, and after¬ 
wards into some other churches, without any 
authority from the word of God. 

PRAYING TOWARD THE EAST. 

This was a superstition early introduced. 
It was a practice which the early Christians 
found habitually in use in the rites of Pagan 
worship; and it was not long before they 
began to conform to it, as what they deemed 
an innocent and expressive usage, and adapt¬ 
ed to conciliate their Pagan neighbours. And 
after adopting it, they speedily began to as¬ 
sign reasons for it, which bore the semblance 
of Christian principle. In the second cen¬ 
tury we find an amount of evidence of its ex¬ 
istence and general prevalence, which pre- 


TUBLIC PRAYER. 


87 


eludes all doubt that it had really crept into 
extensive use. The reasons given for this 
superstitious practice by its advocates, are 
adapted to throw much light on its real cha¬ 
racter and origin. They are the following: 

1. They professed to pray toward the East 
out of respect and reverence to the Messiah, 
because they supposed that the East was a 
title given to Christ in the Old Testament. 
For that passage in Zechariah vi. 12, “Be¬ 
hold the man whose name is the Branch,” 
they translated, according to the Septuagint, 
as they supposed, “Behold the man whose 
name is the East.” The original Hebrew 
word here signifies, arising or sprouting out, 
as a branch does from a root. The term by 
which the Septuagint renders this word, is 
Avato^, which, in a large sense, signifies all 
sorts of arising or springing out; but, gene¬ 
rally and strictly speaking, it is applied to 
the rising and first appearance of the sun; 
and, by a metonymy, it is appropriated to 
the East, because the sun rises in the East. 
Some of the early fathers, therefore, not 
knowing the original Hebrew, and finding 
Christ styled in the popular Greek version, 
Avaio-hri, concluded that, according to the usual 


88 


THOUGHTS ON 


signification of the word, he was there term¬ 
ed by the prophet the East; and that he was 
so called because he was to arise like the sun, 
or, as others said, like a star. “He is so 
called,” says Justin Martyr, “because, as 
the sun that arises in the East, penetrates 
through the world, with his warming and 
illuminating rays; so Christ, the ‘Sun of 
Righteousness,’ when he came, should arise 
with greater warmth and light, and pierce 
farther than the material sun, even into the 
depth of men’s hearts and minds.” And 
again, the same writer says, “Christ is called 
the East, because he arose like a star.” And 
Tertullian calls the East, very emphatically, 
“a type of Christ.” 

2. Another reason assigned for praying 
toward the East, by the advocates of the 
practice, was, that the rising of the sun in 
the East was an emblem of our spiritual 
arising out of the darkness of sin and cor¬ 
ruption. Thus Clemens Alexandrinus says, 
“Letyour prayers be made toward the East, 
because the East is the representative of our 
spiritual nativity. As the light first arose 
thence, shining out of darkness; so accord¬ 
ing to that rising of the sun, the day of true 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


89 


knowledge arose on those who lay buried in 
ignorance. Hence, the ancient (pagan) tem¬ 
ples looked toward the East, that so they 
who stood over against the images therein, 
might be forced to look toward the East.” 

3. Origen advises to pray toward the East, 
“to denote our diligence in the service of 
God, in being more forward to rise and set 
about it, than the sun is to run his daily 
course.” For this he produces a text out of 
the Apocrypha—Wisdom xvi. 28—where it 
is said, “that it might be known, that we 
must go before the sun in giving God thanks, 
and at the day spring pray unto him.” 

4. Another reason for praying toward the 
East, was their opinion of the excellency of 
that quarter of the compass above all others. 
This reason Origen thus assigns: “Whereas 
there are four points of the compass, North, 
South, West and East, who will not ac¬ 
knowledge that we ought to pray looking 
toward the East, symbolically representing 
thereby our souls beholding the rising of the 
true light? If any man, which way soever 
the doors of his house are placed, would 
rather make his prayers toward the win¬ 
dows, saying, that the sight of the sky hath 


90 


THOUGHTS ON 


something more peculiar in it to stir up his 
affections, than his looking against a wall; 
or, if any one pray in an open field, will he 
not naturally rather pray toward the East 
than toward the West? and if, on these oc¬ 
casions, the East is preferred before the 
West, why not so in every thing besides? 
In coincidence with this thought, Augustine 
remarks: “When we stand at our prayers, 
we turn to the East, whence the heavens, or 
the light of heaven, arises, not as if God was 
only there, and had forsaken all other parts 
of the world; but to put ourselves in mind 
of turning to a more excellent nature, that 
is, to the Lord.” 

5. The ancients, in their superstition, had 
an impression that the East was more pecu¬ 
liarly ascribed to God, because He was the 
fountain of light; but the West was as¬ 
cribed to that wicked and depraved spirit, 
the Devil, because he hides the light, and 
induces darkness upon the minds of men, 
and makes them fall and perish in their sin. 
So Lactantius reasons, when speaking on 
this subject. Lib. ii. cap. 10. 

6. The practice of praying toward the 
East was probably connected with the cere- 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


91 


mony of baptism. It was common in the 
dispensation of that sacrament, to go through 
the formality of renouncing the Devil and 
all his works, with faces turned toward the 
West; and then to turn round and make 
their covenant with Christ with faces di¬ 
rected to the East. This is frequently men¬ 
tioned as a fact, by a number of writers in 
the third and fourth centuries. 

7. There is one reason more assigned for 
this practice, which is, that Christ made his 
appearance on earth in the East, and there 
ascended to heaven, and will there appear 
again at the last day. On all these ac¬ 
counts, and several others which might be 
mentioned, the practice of praying toward 
the East has been extensively in use from a 
very early period, and is still very largely in 
use among the votaries of superstition.* 
And evidently, like a multitude of practices 
among the Romanists, it may be traced to a 
Pagan origin. 

PRAYERS FOR THE DEAD. 

We have no information of this unscrip- 
tural and superstitious practice having gained 

* Bingham’s Ecclesiastical Antiquities, B. xiii. Chap. viii. 15. 


92 


THOUGHTS ON 


admittance into the Church of Christ prior 
to the commencement of the third century. 
True, indeed, the spurious works, known un¬ 
der the name of the Apostolical Constitutions, 
the works of Dionysius the Areopagite, and 
the Acts of Paul and Thecla—all refer to 
this practice as existing at the date of their 
composition. But all these works have been 
demonstrated to be the forgeries of times 
long posterior to the age of the Apostles; 
and, so far as I know, are given up by the 
great body of learned Protestants of all de¬ 
nominations as utterly unworthy of credit. 

Tertullian, early in the third century, is 
the first credible writer who speaks of the 
practice of praying for the dead as existing 
in his time. But we find it in none of the 
works which he wrote before he became a 
Montanist; and it has been supposed by 
many that he learned this superstitious no¬ 
tion and practice from that heretic. It is 
worthy of remark, however, that Tertullian 
himself speaks of praying for the dead as 
practised among the heathen, and that he 
does not appear to give it his plenary sanc¬ 
tion, or to represent it as sustained by the 
Christian precept or example of any who 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


93 


had gone before him; so that the probability 
is, that, when professing Christians received 
the practice, they adopted it from the Pa¬ 
gans. 

The doctrine of purgatory very naturally 
gave rise to the practice of praying for 
the dead. For if the great mass even of 
those who were destined to eternal happi¬ 
ness, were considered as entering the eter¬ 
nal world in a state of imperfect sanctifi¬ 
cation, and were supposed to undergo a cer¬ 
tain amount of purgatorial fire before they 
could be admitted into heaven; and if the 
prayers of their friends on earth could be 
regarded as exerting a great influence in 
Shortening the period of this purgatorial suf¬ 
fering; then it would seem that frequent 
and fervent prayers for this purpose were 
demanded by every consideration both of 
benevolence and piety. Accordingly, as 
early as the beginning of the third century, 
when this doctrine of purgatory had crept 
into the Church, by the influence of a false 
and paganized philosophy, we find frequent 
mention made of prayers for the souls of the 
departed. And how large a part of the 
miserable superstition, and the system of 
9 


94 


THOUGHTS ON 


unhallowed gain established in the Romish 
Church, by a mercenary priesthood, has 
been, for many ages, connected with these 
unscriptural prayers, is well known. 

But the reasons for this practice have not 
been confined to the doctrine of purgatory. 
Other considerations have given origin and 
support to the same practice. These con¬ 
siderations have been such as the following. 

(1.) Some of the ancients professed to 
offer eucharistical prayers for the dead; that 
is, prayers, consisting in the main of thanks¬ 
giving to God for their holy lives; for his 
many mercies to them, while living; and for 
their happy deliverance out of this evil 
world. This is mentioned by Chrysostom, 
in the fourth century, and by some before, as 
well as by a number after his day, who pro¬ 
fessed to give God thanks not only for the 
martyrs, but for all Christians who departed 
in the faith and hope of the gospel. 

(2.) Another reason for praying for the 
deceased was, that, as they supposed that all 
died with some remains of frailty and corrup¬ 
tion, so they deemed it reasonable to pray 
that God would deal with them in mercy, 
and not with strict justice. And, although 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


95 


many of those who judged and acted thus, 
fully believed that their departed friends 
were admitted into heaven; still they saw no 
incongruity in interceding with God on their 
behalf, that they might be regarded and 
treated with unmerited favour. Thus it is 
humiliating to state, that so enlightened and 
pious a man as the venerable Augustine evi¬ 
dently prayed frequently and fervently for 
his devotedly pious mother, Monica, notwith¬ 
standing all his confidence that she had been 
accepted of God, and was jesting in peace. 
While he praised God for her good example, 
he interceded most earnestly that her mis¬ 
takes and imperfections might be graciously 
overlooked.* 

(3.) Prayers for the dead were intended 
not only as a testimonial of respect and love 
for departed friends, but also as an expression 
of belief in the soul’s immortality; to show, 
as a father of the Church in the fourth cen¬ 
tury expresses it, their belief that the de¬ 
parted had not ceased to exist, but were still 
living with the Lord.f 

(4.) As it was the general belief of the 

* August. Confess. Lib. 9, cap. 13. 

f Epiphan. Haereses, 75. 


96 


THOUGHTS ON 


Church that those who died in the faith and 
hope of the gospel did not reach the perfec¬ 
tion of their happiness and glory until the 
resurrection, so some thought themselves 
warranted in having a reference to this in 
their prayers, and, with this view, beseech¬ 
ing God that the consummation of their 
blessedness might be hastened in his own 
time. 

(5.) Many of the ancients believed, with 
some modern errorists, that the souls of all 
the redeemed (except, perhaps, the martyrs) 
were confined, out of heaven, in some place 
invisible to mortal eyes, which they called 
Hades, and sometimes Paradise; a place of 
conscious existence and comfort, where they 
were looking forward to more complete enjoy¬ 
ment and glory at the coming of Christ. In 
reference to this imperfect state, it was 
thought reasonable to pray, that, in the ful¬ 
ness of time, the souls confined in this se¬ 
questered state might be brought to the com¬ 
pletion of their glory and enjoyment. 

(6.) Prayer for the dead finds favour in 
the natural feelings of the human heart. 
Man is, by nature, a religious being; that is, 
prone, by the very constitution of his moral 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


97 


and intellectual nature, to grope after future 
and eternal things. He has, indeed, by na¬ 
ture, no taste for real religion; but sadly the 
reverse. He loathes it. It is too humbling 
for him. But superstition is connatural to 
him; and, where real religion does not reign, 
will have a place, and exert an influence. 
Now, natural affection dictates that we retain 
a lively interest in the welfare of those whom 
we have loved, who have left us, and gone 
we know not whither; and a mind ignorant 
or forgetful of the revealed plan of salvation, 
will be apt, with its blind yearnings, if it 
think of praying at all, to pour out supplica¬ 
tions in behalf of those who have passed into 
the presence of Him who hears prayer. 

(7.) But, perhaps, the most potent of all 
the influences wdiich have prompted and sus¬ 
tained the practice of praying for the dead, is 
the claim of ghostly power, and the pecu¬ 
niary gain of a profligate priesthood, which 
have been long and essentially connected 
with it. No wonder that proud and ambi¬ 
tious ecclesiastics have been willing to per¬ 
suade their deluded votaries that they had 
a peculiar power, in virtue of their office, 
to deliver souls out of purgatory by their 
9 * 


98 


THOUGHTS ON 


prayers; and that for this official service 
they ought to be liberally rewarded. What 
would the church of Rome, such as she is, 
be or do without that enormous system of 
imposition on the credulity and the pockets 
of her adherents which has been her support 
and her stigma for more than a thousand 
years? Her rigorous exactions on surviving 
friends, however poor, for masses said for the 
departed, present one of the most revolting 
pages in her wmnderful history; and the 
amount of these exactions is so enormous, 
and forms so large a part of the income of a 
voluptuous priesthood, as to leave no one at 
a loss why they are pei;severingly continued, 
and unfeelingly claimed. 


PRAYERS TO THE SAINTS, AND TO THE VIRGIN MARY. 

It is not known that prayers to the saints 
and to the martyrs appeared, in any form, in 
the Christian Church prior to the fourth, and 
as some think, the fifth century. And when 
the practice of offering such prayers did creep 
in, very different representations concerning 
their nature and import were presented by 
those who appeared as their advocates. A 
majority, it is believed, of these advocates 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


99 


denied that they implied the same kind of 
worship as that given to Christ, and to the 
Father; nor were they agreed as to the sense 
in which the saints and the martyrs were to 
be addressed and regarded as mediators. The 
idea, with many, was, that these heavenly 
inhabitants were to be addressed, not as the 
authors of any benefit or grace, but as inter¬ 
cessors with God for us; nor even as imme¬ 
diate intercessors, but to pray that the merits 
of Christ might be savingly applied; and 
that thus every benefit might be considered 
as flowing through the atonement and right¬ 
eousness of the Divine Redeemer. But, 
although we find very different, and not 
always consistent, representations of this 
subject in the earliest writers who speak of 
it, we may consider the practice of praying 
to the saints and to martyrs as pretty gene¬ 
rally established from the fifth century and 
onward. However the philosophy and the 
theological aspects of it might vary, the thing 
itself was all but universal. 

The Virgin Mary seems to have been 
regarded very much as other saints, and 
prayers to her estimated very much as those 
to others, until the Nestorian controversy in 


100 


THOUGHTS ON 


the fifth century gave a new prominence to 
her character, and put a new edge on the 
minds of men in contending for her honours. 
In that controversy it became, as is well 
known, a question very fiercely contested, 
whether it was proper to call the virgin 
mother of the Saviour, Mother of God , or not. 
Nestorius contended that she ought not to 
be so called, as she was not the mother of 
our Saviour’s Divine ^nature. The Catholic 
clergy, however, contended with ardent zeal 
that it was proper to give her this title. 
From that time, the authority and power of 
the Virgin Mary were inordinately exalted; 
and she became, not only in a degree far 
greater than ever before, the object of reli¬ 
gious worship; but language concerning her 
began to be indulged of the most idolatrous 
and shocking kind. She began to be called 
not only the “ Mother of God,” but also the 
“ Queen of Heaven;” and, indeed, sometimes 
to be addressed as if she had an authority 
and power above the Saviour himself. Hence, 
in praying to the Virgin, it became custom¬ 
ary to say to her “ command your Son”— 
“ exercise the authority of a mother over her 
son in requiring your Son to do this or that.” 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


101 


From that time to the present it has been the 
constant practice in the Romish church not 
only to make the Virgin Mother by far the 
most prominent saint in the whole calendar, 
but to make her the object of the most un¬ 
limited idolatry; to call upon her every hour 
to guide, enlighten, protect and save; to be¬ 
seech her to make her Son according to the 
flesh propitious; and, in fact, to speak of her, 
and to h6r, as if she held the reins of univer¬ 
sal empire. 

It is unnecessary to say to those who 
have the word of God in their hands, that 
for nothing of this kind is the least counte¬ 
nance found in Holy Scripture. Nothing is 
more clearly laid down in the inspired ora¬ 
cles than that God is the only proper object 
of religious worship; that all prayer ad¬ 
dressed to creatures is idolatry; and that 
this is not only a departure from that which 
is right, but has been pronounced by a God 
of infinite holiness to be an aggravated sin 
in the sight of Him who has declared that 
he will not give his glory to another. Are 
saints in glory omniscient or omnipresent? 
Can they hear our prayers? Can they help 
us if they did hear them? And is not 


102 


THOUGHTS ON 


every such prayer a virtual insult to Him 
who has proclaimed himself the only Medi¬ 
ator between God and man; and who has 
commanded us to ask for every thing in the 
name of Christ, and to rely for audience and 
acceptance only on his atoning sacrifice and 
prevalent intercession? 

And as to the Virgin Mary, we do not 
find the least countenance in sacred Scrip¬ 
ture for the idolatrous worship of wdiich we 
have spoken. Neither Jesus himself, nor 
his inspired Apostles ever commanded or 
even encouraged Christians to give more 
honour to the Virgin Mary than to any other 
woman who did the will of God. But we 
do find in the sacred history facts and state¬ 
ments which are wholly irreconcilable with 
the Romish practice on this subject. How 
do we find Jesus himself treating his mother 
on several occasions recorded by the Evan¬ 
gelists? Does he recognize her right to rule 
over him, or to prescribe his course of ac¬ 
tion? True, indeed, in his early youth, we 
are told he dwelt with his parents, and was 
“ subject unto them.” But in this state¬ 
ment no distinction is made between his 
mother and his reputed father. He was 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


103 


“ subject to them.” But does bis manner of 
addressing bis mother, when she found him 
in the temple, “sitting among the doctors;” 
when he spake to her at the marriage in 
Cana of Galilee; when she, with others, 
came to him when he was preaching in a 
crowded assembly; and when he committed 
her to the care of the “ beloved disciple,” 
while hanging on the cross, appear to recog¬ 
nize in her that authority over him which 
Romish idolatry ascribes to her? Far from 
it. We have but to look into the sacred his¬ 
tory, to see that on every occasion of which a 
record is made, the Saviour treated his mo¬ 
ther according to the flesh with pointed re¬ 
spect and filial reverence; but, in no case, 
as if he thought she had the least right to 
exercise authority in regard to his official 
and public conduct. 

PRAYERS IN AN UNKNOWN TONGUE. 

Nothing can be more evident than that, 
in the apostolic Church, and for a number 
of centuries after the apostolic age, the pub¬ 
lic prayers were always conducted in the 
vernacular tongue of the worshippers. In 
regard to the practice of the Apostles, the lan- 


104 


THOUGHTS ON 


guage and the reasoning used in the 14th 
chapter of the first Epistle to the Corinthians, 
throughout, are so perfectly clear and con¬ 
clusive, as to banish all doubt in reference to 
their example. The Apostle speaks of pray¬ 
ing and prophesying in an unknown tongue 
with such unequivocal and severe censure, 
as to show that he regarded it with entire 
disapprobation, not only as an absurdity, 
but as utterly defeating the great design of 
social worship. And, with respect to a 
number of centuries afterwards, nothing is 
more certain than that the primitive prac¬ 
tice was adhered to with uniform strictness. 
Of this we have so many testimonies, in the 
form either of direct assertion, or of mani¬ 
fest implication, as to preclude the possi¬ 
bility of mistake in regard to the practice 
for a number of centuries. 

That the Church, both before, and for 
some time after the establishment of Chris¬ 
tianity in the Roman empire, should have 
thought proper, throughout the greater part 
of western Christendom, to make choice of 
the Latin language as the vehicle of her de¬ 
votions, was not surprising. It was the ver¬ 
nacular tongue of a very large portion of her 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


105 


members, and both convenience and pride 
dictated its use. But that she should still 
insist on the use of this tongue, in all her 
public prayers, long after it had ceased to be 
vernacular to a very large portion of her wor¬ 
shippers ; when, perhaps, not one in an hun¬ 
dred, or perhaps five hundred, of those who 
repeated those prayers, had any proper un¬ 
derstanding of the import of the wmrds 
which they uttered, is a most signal exam¬ 
ple of adherence to speculative system, at the 
expense of reason and of all practical utility. 

It may not be altogether useless to inquire 
into the motives which have induced the 
Church of Rome to adopt this absurd and 
cruel system of compelling her people to 
attend on prayers which they do not under¬ 
stand. 

(1.) Probably one motive was, that they 
might cast an air of antiquity over their 
whole system. This the Papacy has al¬ 
ways affected. It has ever been a favourite 
object with the followers of the “ Man of 
Sin,” to represent their worst errors and 
superstitions as coming down to them from 
the primitive Church, and as sanctioned, if 
not authoritatively appointed, by the Apos- 
10 


106 


THOUGHTS ON 


ties. This notion, they supposed, would be, 
of course, promoted by the constant use of a 
language which wore an antiquated aspect, 
and which has long since ceased to be popu¬ 
larly spoken. “The Latin,” say they, “is 
an ancient language, and the Church hates 
novelty, and desires to have every thing 
savouring of antiquity.” 

(2.) Another reason which has been given 
for the prescribed use of an unknown tongue 
in public devotions in the Romish Church, 
is, that that community may have the ap¬ 
pearance of being one and the same all over 
the world; that the worshipping assemblies 
of that denomination, whether in Italy, in 
Germany, in France, in England, or the 
United States of America, might all be found 
speaking the same language in prayer, using 
the same forms, and recognizing their rela¬ 
tion to the same great body, wherever they 
might sojourn or reside. They forget that 
this is not the unity of which the Bible 
speaks. They forget that, according to the 
word of God, there may be great diversity 
of dialect, where there is entire unity of 
faith, and hope, and love, and obedience; 
and that where this exists, diversity of arti- 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


107 


culate speech is no obstacle to all that is 
mainly valuable in the communion of saints. 

(3.) Perhaps the fact that the Latin Vul¬ 
gate was the only Bible authorized to be in 
common use among Romanists, was not 
without its influence in prescribing the lan¬ 
guage of their public prayers. As that ver¬ 
sion was made their standard Bible, by a 
decree of the Council of Trent, we cannot 
wonder that they aimed at the miserable con¬ 
sistency of having their prescribed forms of 
devotion in the same language, that the one 
might be just as intelligible to the common 
people, or rather as unintelligible, as the 
other. 

(4.) Another plea employed is, that living 
languages are in a state of constant fluctua¬ 
tion. New words are every day introduced, 
and old words and phrases changing their 
meaning. Now, say they, since religion and 
all its offices ought to be fixed and immuta¬ 
ble things, they ought to be embodied in a 
language as fixed and unchangeable as the 
system which it exhibits. 

(5.) It is not necessary, they tell us, that 
we should understand what we utter in pub¬ 
lic, if our hearts be only sincere. 


103 


THOUGHTS ON 


(6.) Finally: there is no want of charity 
in believing that one leading purpose in pur¬ 
suing this practice, is to keep the people in 
ignorance, and to make them constantly 
more dependent on their priesthood. That 
“ ignorance is the mother of devotion,” may 
be considered as a leading Popish maxim; 
and, truly, of the greater part of the devotion 
which exists in that communion, we have 
reason to believe it is the real and legitimate 
mother. No intelligent judge of their arts 
and habits can doubt, that one leading object 
of the whole, is to increase the power of a 
corrupt and tyrannical priesthood; to im¬ 
press the mass of the people with a deep 
sense of their prerogatives and their power; 
and to extort from them a more blind and 
implicit homage. The votaries of Anti¬ 
christ, instead of opening the Scriptures to 
the people, and trying to bring them in con¬ 
tact with all minds within their reach, rather 
make it their study to lock them up from 
the laity, either by entirely prohibiting their 
perusal, or hiding them from the popular 
mind by the cover of a dead language. If it 
were their policy to prevent the common 
people from reading and understanding the 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


109 


Scriptures, it was natural that the same 
policy should also dictate a system of man¬ 
agement to make them the blind and sub¬ 
missive repeaters of a form of words of which 
they understood nothing. 

As to the real character of this practice, 
nothing can be plainer than that it is con¬ 
trary to reason, to Scripture, and to the early 
judgment and practice of those who now 
glory in it. 

(1.) It is contrary to reason—to common 
sense. The great object of language is to 
communicate thought. Of course, if it be 
not understood, it communicates no thought. 
What would be deemed of a lawyer, plead¬ 
ing before an earthly court, in which the 
English language alone was spoken, who 
should speak Greek, or Latin, or Hebrew, 
of which not one in a thousand of his hearers 
understood a word? If he insisted on em¬ 
ploying a language thus unintelligible to his 
hearers, and refused to employ any other, 
would he not be deemed insane? Surely it 
is not less unreasonable to insist on retaining 
in use a plan by which millions of Romanists 
in every part of the world continue daily, 
under the guise of worshipping God, to re- 
10 * 


110 


THOUGHTS ON 


peat, parrot-like, a form of words which con¬ 
veys no intelligible ideas either to themselves 
or others. 

(2.) It is contrary to Scripture. The 
Apostle, in the chapter before referred to, # 
declares that he had rather speak five words 
which were understood, than ten thousand in 
an unknown tongue. He speaks of himself 
as being a barbarian to those whom he ad¬ 
dressed in a tongue unknown to them; and 
much more would this be the case if it were 
unknown to himself as well as to them. And, 
accordingly, on the day of Pentecost, when 
multitudes were assembled in Jerusalem, 
from every part of the Roman empire, that 
no portion of the people might be permitted 
to listen to an unknown tongue, a direct 
miracle was wrought, and the Apostles had 
the gift of tongues imparted to them, ena¬ 
bling them to speak to every one that heard 
them “in that tongue in which he was born.” 
Surely this fact is adapted strongly and 
conclusively to discountenance the Romish 
practice. 

The following remarks by the pious and 
amiable Dr, Doddridge, in his Family Ex- 

* 1 Cor. xiv. 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


Ill 


positor, on the 13th and 16th verses of this 
chapter, are so judicious and pointed, that I 
cannot forbear to transfer them to this page. 

“ Had the most able and zealous Protestant 
divine endeavoured to expose the absurdity 
of praying in an unknown tongue, as prac¬ 
tised in the Church of Rome, it is difficult to 
imagine what he could have written more 
fully to the purpose than the Apostle has here 
dona And when it is considered how per¬ 
versely the Papists retain the usage of such 
prayers, it will seem no wonder they should 
keep the Scriptures in an unknown tongue 
too. But they proclaim at the same time 
their superstition and idolatry in so universal 
a language, that even a barbarian might per¬ 
ceive and learn it in their assemblies. Let 
us pity and pray for them, that God may 
give their prejudiced minds a juster and hap¬ 
pier turn. And since we see the unreason¬ 
able and pernicious humour of immutably 
adhering to ancient customs, prevailing to 
maintain in the Church of Rome so flagrant 
an absurdity as praying in an unknown 
tongue, let it teach us to guard against every 
degree of the like disposition; and not so 
much consider what hath been the practice 


112 


THOUGHTS ON 


of any church, in which we were educated, 
or have chosen to worship, as what the rea¬ 
son of things, and the authority of Scripture 
concur to dictate.” 

(3.) Finally, the present practice of Pa¬ 
pists is entirely opposed to the early example 
and practice of the church in the city of 
Rome. The bishop of Rome claims to be 
infallible, and the community over which he 
presides, claims to be also, infallible; and, if 
so, of course, ever the same, from the time of 
the Apostles to the present hour. Now it is 
well known that the church in Rome, during 
the first few centuries, never thought of using 
any other language, in any part of the public 
service, than the vernacular tongue. How, 
then, is it consistent with her infallibility 
now to act a different part? On every ac¬ 
count, then, it appears that this superstitious 
practice is worthy of condemnation. It is 
opposed to reason, to scriptural precept, to 
scriptural example, and to the invariable 
usage of the best and purest churches in the 
ages nearest to the primitive times. And 
nothing can be clearer than that its contin¬ 
uance is adapted to enslave the mass of the 
people; to perpetuate ignorance and error; 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


113 


and to render it more easy for a corrupt and 
tyrannical priesthood to lord it over their 
deluded followers. 

If any attestation to the truth of these 
statements should be deemed desirable, the 
following extract from the recent history of 
the eminently learned Neander, bearing on 
an allied subject, viz. reading the Scriptures 
in the vernacular tongue, will be considered 
as conclusive. It relates to the first three 
centuries. 

“ The reading of the Scriptures was of the 
greater consequence, since it was desired to 
make every Christian familiar with them; 
and yet, on account of the rarity and high 
prices of manuscripts, and the poverty of a 
great proportion of the Christians, or because 
all could not read, placing the Bible itself in 
the hands of all was out of the question. 
The frequent hearing of the word, therefore, 
must, in the case of many, be a substitute 
for their own reading it. The Scriptures 
were read in a language that all could under¬ 
stand. This, in most of the countries be¬ 
longing to the Roman empire, was either the 
Greek or the Latin. Various translations of 
the Bible into Latin made their appearance 


114 


THOUGHTS ON 


at a very early period, since every one who 
had but a slight knowledge of the Greek, 
felt the want of thus making himself familiar 
with the word of God in his native tongue. 
In places where the Greek or the Latin lan¬ 
guage was understood by only a part of the 
community, the men of education, the rest 
being acquainted only with the ancient dia¬ 
lect of their country, which was the case in 
many cities in Egypt and Syria, church 
interpreters were appointed, as they were in 
the Jewish synagogues, who immediately 
translated what was read into the provincial 
dialect, that it might be universally under¬ 
stood.”* 

RESPONSES IN PUBLIC PRAYER. 

Nothing of this kind existed in the apos¬ 
tolic church, nor for several centuries after the 
apostolic age. The entire silence of the best 
authorities on the subject, plainly shows that 
nothing of the sort had any place in Chris¬ 
tian worship for a number of centuries after 
Christ. The responsive form of worship 
seems to have been originally confined to the 

* General History of the Christian Religion and Church, 
by Hr. Augustus Neander, Vol. i. 303. Torrey’s translation. 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


115 


music of the church, and only transferred at 
a much later period, and probably by an in¬ 
sensible transition, to the other portions of the 
public service. This agrees perfectly with 
the well known circumstance, that some 
parts of various existing liturgies, which, in 
modern practice, may be '‘either said or 
sung,” are always “sung” in the more so¬ 
lemn, and what claims to be the more ancient 
method of performance, as, for example, in 
the cathedral service of the Church of Eng¬ 
land, as compared with the ordinary paro¬ 
chial service. Accordingly, a very large part 
of the actual service in the public worship of 
the Romanists may be considered as falling 
under the description of church music. 

The earliest information I can find in 
respect to responsive worship, seems to have 
reference to the alternate Chants or Canti¬ 
cles introduced, at an early period, from the 
Syrian into the Western Church, and espe¬ 
cially as associated with the name of Am¬ 
brose, and the practice of the Church of 
Milan, and hence popularly called the Am¬ 
brosian Mass. It seems probable that re¬ 
sponses in prayer originated from this an¬ 
cient mode of singing; and gradually made 


116 


THOUGHTS ON 


their way into popular use. But, assuredly, 
there is no trace of them in the primitive 
church. Chanting prayers, and responses 
in prayer, equally unknown in the apos¬ 
tolic age, had, probably, an allied origin. 

POSTURE IN PUBLIC PRAYER. 

This is not essential. A prayer truly spi¬ 
ritual and acceptable may be offered up in 
any posture. And yet this is, undoubtedly, 
a point by no means unworthy of considera¬ 
tion and inquiry. There are certain proprie¬ 
ties of gesture in all public performances in 
which it is desirable that all who frequent 
our religious assemblies should be agreed 
both in principle and practice. The ancient 
Christians made it a subject of specific regu¬ 
lation; and there is a manifest advantage in 
having those who worship together uniform 
in their external habits, as well as in their 
theological creed. 

The postures in prayer, as laid down in 
Scripture and early usage, are four —pros¬ 
tration, kneeling, bowing the head, and 
standing erect. The examples of all these 
are many, and leave no room to doubt that 
they were all practised, and are all signifi¬ 
cant and admissible. 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


117 


(1.) Prostration. This seems to have been 
reserved for days of special humiliation and 
mourning. Thus Joshua and the elders of 
Israel, when they had suffered a sore defeat 
by the men of Ai, continued a whole day, 
from morning till eventide, prostrate on their 
faces before the ark, with dust on their 
heads, in the exercise of the deepest humi¬ 
liation and prayer.* Joshua also himself, 
on a preceding occasion, when filled with 
alarm, “fell on his face to the earth, and did 
worship.”! Thus also, David and the elders 
of Israel, when the aspect of God’s provi¬ 
dence toward them was peculiarly alarming 
and awful, fell on their faces to the ground, 
and worshipped.f The patriarch Job, too, 
when the bereaving dispensations of a sove¬ 
reign God, fell in thick succession upon 
him, acknowledged his power, and prayed 
to Him in a similar posture. §> Nay, even 
our blessed Saviour himself, in his agony in 
the garden, fell prostrate on the ground, and 
poured out his soul in the most moving man¬ 
ner to his Father in heaven. 

This posture in prayer is, undoubtedly, 

* Joshua vii. f Joshua v. 14. 

t 1 Chron. xxi. 16. $ Job i. 20. 

11 


118 


THOUGHTS ON 


not suited to ordinary worship. It may an¬ 
swer for a deeply penitent individual, in his 
private apartment, burdened with an unu¬ 
sual sense of sin, or overborne with an awful 
sense of the divine glory. Or it may be as¬ 
sumed by a body of penitent worshippers in 
the open air, when placed in circumstances 
which call for special humiliation, which 
seems always to have been the situation of 
those who are recorded to have used it; but 
is by no means adapted to the case of an 
assembly in an edifice such as we ordinarily 
occupy. In fact, in many cases, in such an 
edifice, this posture would be physically im¬ 
possible, and ought not to be attempted. 
It befits only one, or a small company, in an 
agony of peculiar contrition, or transported 
by the enjoyment of special manifestations of 
the Divine favour. 

(2.) Kneeling is the next of the four pos¬ 
tures becoming in prayer. Of this we have 
many examples in sacred Scripture. They, 
chiefly, though not exclusively, belong to 
cases of individual and private devotion, or 
to small circles engaged in prayer on special 
occasions. Thus the prophet Daniel “kneel¬ 
ed down on his knees,” in his private cham- 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


119 


ber, three times a day, and prayed. The 
Psalmist exclaims, “ O come, let us bow be¬ 
fore the Lord, let us kneel before God our 
Maker.” Stephen, at his martyrdom, knelt 
down and prayed. Jesus himself, when he 
was withdrawn from his disciples “ about a 
stone’s cast, kneeled down and prayed.” 
The Apostle Paul twice knelt down and 
prayed with circles of praying friends, who 
had come together to testify their respect to 
him—once at Miletus, on his way to Mace¬ 
donia, and once at Tyre, on his journey to 
Jerusalem.* This is, undoubtedly, a sig¬ 
nificant and becoming posture in prayer, 
strongly expressive of humility, reverence 
and earnestness. It is the usual and becom¬ 
ing posture in secret and family prayer, and 
by many generally used in small circles en¬ 
gaged in social prayer. 

(3.) Bowing the head. This may be consi¬ 
dered as a kind of intermediate attitude be¬ 
tween kneeling and standing. There is fre¬ 
quent reference made to it in Scripture; as, 
for example, in Genesis xxiv. 26, in which 
we are told of Abraham’s servant, that when 
he went to Padan Aram on an interesting 
errand for his master, and when he observed 
* Acts xx. 36; xxi. 5. 


120 


THOUGHTS ON 


what he considered as manifest tokens of di¬ 
vine guidance and approbation, he “ bowed 
his head and worshipped the Lord.” This 
appears to have taken place in the open air, 
at the well of water, when surrounded by 
those who were watering the cattle, and 
when, perhaps, few, if any, of those who 
were standing by had their attention drawn 
to this act of obeisance. The same is said 
of the Elders of Israel in Egypt: “When 
they heard that the Lord had visited the 
children of Israel, and that he had looked 
upon their affliction, they bowed their heads 
and worshipped.” Again, in the days of 
King Hezekiah, on an occasion of grateful 
interest, when the house of God was cleansed, 
“ the king and the princes commanded the 
Levites to sing praise unto the Lord, with 
the words of David and of Asaph the seer; 
and they sang praises with gladness, and they 
bowed their heads and worshipped.” This 
easy and convenient method of manifesting a 
spirit of devout reverence, may be employed 
at all times, and in all circumstances, when 
the worshipper is standing erect, and when 
neither prostration nor kneeling could be 
without great difficulty adopted. 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


121 


(4.) Standing is the fourth and last of the 
attitudes becoming and adopted in public de¬ 
votion. And this, it is well known, was the 
posture adopted in the Church of Scotland; 
by our fathers, the Puritans, in England; 
and by the descendants of both churches 
on this side of the Atlantic. There is 
much to recommend this posture. We spon¬ 
taneously rise in the presence of a superior. 
It is expressive of respect and reverence. We 
have also many examples of this in Scrip¬ 
ture. When Solomon, in the midst of the 
thousands of Israel, made a prayer at the 
dedication of the temple, while the king 
himself knelt down on a platform of brass, 
all the people around him stood up, while 
they united with him in addressing the 
throne of grace.* When Jehoshaphat pro¬ 
claimed a fast, and offered up a solemn 
prayer, in the critical circumstances in 
which he and his people were placed, we 
are told that he stood upright , and that the 
whole multitude, not only the men, but their 
wives and their children, all stood and pray¬ 
ed.f We know, too, that the usual posture 

* 2 Chron. vi. 3.13. f 2 Chron. xx. 5. 13. 

II* 


122 


THOUGHTS ON 


in public prayer, in the Temple, and after¬ 
wards in the Synagogue, was that of stand¬ 
ing . This practice was evidently adopted in 
the early Christian Church. The following 
testimony from Lord Chancellor King’s “In¬ 
quiry into the Constitution of the Primitive 
Church within the first three hundred years 
after Christ,” is decisive in regard to this 
point. “ As soon as the sermon was ended, 
then all the congregation rose up to present 
their common and public prayers unto Al¬ 
mighty God, as Justin Martyr writes, that 
when the preacher had finished his dis¬ 
course, They all rose up, and offered their 
prayers unto Godstanding being the 
usual posture of praying, (at least the con¬ 
stant one on the Lord’s day, on which day 
they esteemed it a sin to kneel,) whence the 
preacher frequently concluded his sermon 
with an exhortation to his auditors, to stand 
up and pray to God, as we find it more than 
once in the conclusion of Origen’s sermons ; 
as, for example, 4 Wherefore, standing up, 
let us beg help from God, that we may be 
blessed in Jesus Christ, to whom be glory 
for ever and ever, Amen!’ And again, in 
another place; ‘ Wherefore, rising up, let us 


PUBLIC TRAYER. 


123 


pray to God, that we may be made worthy 
of Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and domi¬ 
nion, for ever and ever, Amen!’ And again, 
‘Standing up , let us offer sacrifices to the 
Father through Christ, who is the propitia¬ 
tion for our sins, to whom be glory and do¬ 
minion, forever and ever, Amen!’ 

Testimony to the same amount, and of the 
same explicit character, is found in the writ¬ 
ings of Jerome, Augustine, Basil, and Epi- 
phanius, from all which sources we learn 
that the standing posture in public prayer 
was regarded as a real privilege which was 
denied to those who had incurred the dis¬ 
cipline of the Church, and who returned to 
her bosom as penitent. They were com¬ 
pelled to kneel , as a testimony of deep humi¬ 
liation; it being the prerogative and the 
right of believers only, and consistent pro¬ 
fessors of religion, to occupy the standing 
posture in their public devotions. 

Nay, this matter was deemed of so much 
importance as to be made the subject of so¬ 
lemn regulation by the first General Council 
that ever assembled in the Christian world. 
The Council of Nice, which was called toge- 

* Inquiry, chap. ii. 


124 


THOUGHTS ON 


ther, A. D. 325, to dispose of the heresy of 
Arius, after its decision on that important 
subject was disposed of, passed a number of 
canons in regard to points which were consi¬ 
dered as calling for authoritative direction. 
In the twentieth of these canons it was ordain¬ 
ed, that all kneeling in public prayer be pro¬ 
hibited on the Lord’s day, and on any day 
during the fifty days between Easter and 
Pentecost, or Whitsuntide. The Lord’s 
day, which commemorated the resurrection 
of the Saviour from the dead, and which, 
on that account, they regarded as a season 
appropriated to spiritual joy and rejoicing, 
they considered as forbidding a posture of 
humiliation. And so the fifty days between 
Easter and Pentecost, the one intended to 
commemorate the resurrection of Christ 
from the grave, and the other, the outpour¬ 
ing of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles. 
On these joyful days, all kneeling in public 
prayer was expressly forbidden, as unbe¬ 
coming the privileges and the hopes of the 
Christian. On the other hand, they deemed 
the erect and joyful posture of standing alto¬ 
gether unsuitable for those who appeared in 
the sanctuary as penitents, to whom a pos- 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


125 


ture indicating humiliation and shame was 
more appropriate. They seem to have been 
compelled to kneel at all times. 

Thus it is incontrovertibly evident that, 
for the first three hundred years after Christ, 
standing in public prayer was the only pos¬ 
ture allowed, on the Lord’s day, to the mass 
of Christian worshippers, who were in a 
state of union w T ith the Church. 

In all Presbyterian churches standing is 
regarded as the appropriate posture in 
prayer at all times. This posture is re¬ 
commended by a variety of considerations. 
(1.) It was evidently the apostolical and 
primitive plan. (2.) The first General 
Council, as we have seen, in the fourth 
century, enjoined it by a solemn canon. 
(3.) It is a posture expressive of respect and 
reverence. (4.) It is adapted to keep the 
worshipper wakeful and attentive; while 
the postures of kneeling and sitting are both 
favourable to drowsiness. 

“ It is a mistake,” says Mr. Trench, 
“ growing out of forgetfulness of Jewish and 
early Christian customs, when some com¬ 
mentators see in the fact that the Pharisee 
prayed standing, an evidence manifesting 


126 


THOUGHTS ON 


his pride. Even the parable itself contra¬ 
dicts this notion; for the Publican, whose 
prayer was an humble one, stood also. But 
to pray standing was the manner of the 
Jews. See 1 Kings viii. 22; 2 Chron. vi. 12; 
Matt. vi. 5; Mark xi. 25. True, in moments 
of more than ordinary humiliation or emo¬ 
tion of heart, they changed this attitude for 
one of kneeling or prostration; see Daniel 
vi. 10; 2 Chron. vi. 13; Acts ix. 40: xx. 36: 
xxi. 5. Hence the term station ( statio ,) 
passed into the usage of the Christian 
Church on this account. It was so called, 
as Ambrose explains it, because, standing , 
the Christian soldier repelled the attacks of 
his spiritual enemies; and on the Lord’s 
day the faithful stood in prayer to com¬ 
memorate their Saviour’s resurrection on 
that day; through which they who by sin 
had fallen, were again lifted up and set 
upon their feet.”— Trench on the Parables . 
It is to be remembered, that this testimony 
is from the pen of a distinguished clergy¬ 
man of the Church of England. 

The posture of standing has been ob¬ 
jected to by some on two grounds. First, 
as fatiguing to the feeble and infirm. But, 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


127 


if the officiating minister be tolerably dis¬ 
creet in the length of his prayers, this ob¬ 
jection can have little or no force to those 
who are in ordinary health. It will, surely, 
rather be a relief than otherwise to stand up 
ten, or, at most, twelve minutes, when the 
sitting posture is to be maintained during 
almost the entire remainder of the time al¬ 
lotted to the public service. It has also 
been alleged, in the second place, that the 
standing posture is unfavourable to close 
and solemn attention; that it tempts him 
who maintains it to look about him; and 
that it exposes females to be gazed at by 
surrounding worshippers more than other 
postures which might be adopted. But if 
there be really a devout spirit, and a dis¬ 
position to depress the countenance, to with¬ 
draw the eyes from surrounding objects, and 
in any measure to cover the face with a fan 
or the handkerchief, it is easy to see that 
the objection before us may be as perfectly 
obviated as in any other posture. 

The posture of sitting in public prayer 
has no countenance either from Scripture, 
from reason, or from respectable usage, in 
any part of the Church’s history. It was 


128 


THOUGHTS ON 


never allowed in the ancient Church, and 
was universally regarded as an irreverent 
and heathenish mode of engaging in public 
devotion. True, if there be any worship¬ 
pers so infirm from age, or so feeble from 
disease, that standing erect would really in¬ 
commode or distress them to a degree un¬ 
friendly to devotion, let them sit; not in 
a posture of indifference or indulgence; hut 
with bow r ed heads, and fixed countenances, 
as becomes persons reluctantly constrained 
to retain such an attitude, and who are yet 
devoutly engaged in the service. 

It were greatly to be wished that this mat¬ 
ter should engage the attention of pastors 
and church sessions to an extent commensu¬ 
rate with the evil to be remedied, and which 
is evidently gaining ground. Thirty or forty 
years ago, nineteen out of twenty of all Pres¬ 
byterian worshippers were in the constant 
habit of standing in public prayer. Nothing 
else was thought of; and if any one was con¬ 
strained by debility or sickness to remain 
sitting, he felt as if his posture needed an 
apology. Such a case was an exception to a 
general rule. But the practice of indulging 
in this posture has gradually made so much 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


129 


progress, that sitting has almost become the 
general rule, and standing the exception. 
Now, when we cast an eye over many of our 
worshipping assemblies, we see a large por¬ 
tion of the professed worshippers not only 
sitting, but sitting in such a posture of 
lounging indulgence, as evinces that nothing 
is further from their minds than a spirit of 
devotion. This surely ought not to be so. 
It is unscriptural, unseemly, and highly re¬ 
volting. Where there is really a spirit of 
devotion, there will be some manifestation of 
it in the outward posture. And where the 
outward posture is unfriendly to such a spi¬ 
rit, it will, in spite of any professed wish to 
the contrary, speedily banish it. Unless 
ministers, then, are willing that the members 
of their flocks should gradually fall into 
habits in the highest degree unfavourable to 
the spirit of devotion, let them raise their 
voices against this growing evil. Let them 
warn their hearers against the indulgence of 
a spirit of lounging indifference in the house 
of God. Let them proclaim, that, even 
when standing erect may cost some effort, 
and be attended even with some pain, this 
very circumstance may tend to obviate drow- 
12 


130 THOUGHTS ON PUBLIC PRAYER. 

siness, and to keep the mind more intent on 
the solemnity and importance of the exercise. 
It is, undoubtedly, desirable that there be 
uniformity in our habits of worship. This 
uniformity is not likely to be attained or 
established without the employment of means 
for the purpose. Every pastor is responsible 
for much in this respect, and has much in 
his power. Let him drop a hint in the pul¬ 
pit, and let him impart a suggestion, now 
and then, to young and old in his parochial 
visits, and he may generally arrest unde¬ 
sirable practices in the bud, and keep most 
external habits in a state of decorum and 
order. 


131 


CHAPTER III. 


THE CLAIMS OP LITURGIES. 

In the foregoing history of Public Prayer, 
much has been said which bears on the 
question of liturgies; but that whole ques¬ 
tion is so important in relation to the best 
method of conducting the devotional exer¬ 
cises of the sanctuary, that a formal discus¬ 
sion of it is evidently demanded in the 
course of the examination before us. 

The word liturgy is derived from two 
Greek words, *«*<>$, public, and *py ov, work ; 
importing, of course, public work, or the 
performance of sacred public offices; which 
may be considered as comprehending, in a 
large sense, the whole ceremonial of public 
worship; including, among Romanists, the 
mass, with all its accompaniments; but, 
among Protestants, the term is commonly 
employed to express the forms adopted and 
prescribed, by any church for conducting 
her public, devotional and sacramental ser- 


132 


THOUGHTS ON 


vices. Concerning these there is great di¬ 
versity of principle and practice among the 
various Protestant denominations. In some, 
there are formularies rigidly prescribed, and 
exclusively adhered to in every part of the 
public service. This is the system of the 
Church of England, and of her daughter, the 
Episcopal Church in the United States. In 
some other churches, these formularies ex¬ 
tend only to the administration of the sacra¬ 
ments, the celebration of marriage, the burial 
of the dead, and the prescribed forms for 
sacred praise; 'leaving all the other devo>- 
tional exercises of the sanctuary to be con¬ 
ducted extemporaneously, according to the 
discretion of each officiating minister. This, 
it is well known, was, substantially, the plan 
adopted by the French, the Helvetic, the 
Genevan, the Dutch churches, and many of 
the churches of the German Protestants. It 
is also the plan of our Methodist brethren 
in the United States. While, by a third 
class, as among the Presbyterians of Scot¬ 
land and the United States, the Indepen¬ 
dents of England and America, and some 
other Reformed churches—all prescribed 
forms of devotion, excepting those of Psal- 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


133 


mody, are excluded, and every other part of 
the public service is conducted on the ex¬ 
temporaneous plan. 

There was a period, indeed, when the 
practice of the Church of Scotland was dif¬ 
ferent from what it now is, and has long 
been. In the earlier stages of her history, 
when, in emerging from the darkness and 
superstition of Popery, the number of pious 
and well qualified ministers was very small; 
and when, in the lack of regularly ordained 
men, it was deemed necessary sometimes to 
commit a portion of the public instruction 
to persons denominated readers and ex - 
horters, it was found needful, in such cases, 
to provide some aid for the acceptable per¬ 
formance of public prayer. While the 
venerable John Knox lived, and for some 
time after his death, there was provision 
made for meeting this exigency by adopting 
at least a partial liturgy. Whether the 
liturgy thus adopted and used was the Eng¬ 
lish liturgy of Edward VI., has been much 
disputed among the early historians of Scot¬ 
land. As Knox was himself one of King 
Edward’s chaplains; as he had been con¬ 
sulted respecting the liturgy sanctioned by 
12 * 


134 


THOUGHTS ON 


that monarch; had found fault with it, and 
had procured its correction, to a certain ex¬ 
tent, in accordance with his criticisms,* it 

* “In the year 1551,Knox was consulted about the Book of 
Common Prayer (of England,) which was undergoing a re- 
visal. On that occasion, it is probable that he was called up 
for a short time to London. Although the persons who had 
the chief direction of ecclesiastical affairs were not disposed, 
or did not deem it as yet expedient, to introduce that thorough 
reform which he judged necessary, in order to reduce the 
worship of the English Church to the Scripture model, his 
representations on this head were not altogether disregarded. 
Pie had influence to procure an important*change in the com¬ 
munion office, completely excluding the notion of the corpo¬ 
real presence of Christ in the sacrament, and guarding against 
the adoration of the elements, which was too much counte¬ 
nanced by the practice, still continued, of kneeling at their 
reception. In his ‘Admonition to the Professors of the Truth 
in England,’ Knox speaks of these amendments, as follows, 
with great apparent satisfaction: ‘Also God gave boldness 
and knowledge to the court of Parliament to take away the 
round-clipped god, wherein standeth all the holiness of the 
Papists, and to command bread to be used at the Lord’s Ta¬ 
ble, and to take away the most part of superstitions (kneel¬ 
ing at the Lord’s table excepted,) which before profaned 
Christ’s true religion.’ These alterations gave great offence 
to the Papists. In a disputation with Latimer, after the ac¬ 
cession of Queen Mary, the prolocutor, Dr. Weston, com¬ 
plained of Knox’s influence in procuring them. ‘A runna- 
gate Scot,’ says he, ‘ did take away the adoration or worship 
of Christ in the sacrament, by whose procurement that he¬ 
resy was put into the last communion book: so much pre¬ 
vailed that one man’s authority at that time.’ .In the fol¬ 
lowing year he was employed in revising the Articles of 


TUBLIC THAYER. 


135 


is not at all unlikely that he favoured its par¬ 
tial and temporary use in Scotland. How 
long, or how extensively it was used is un¬ 
certain, and cannot now be decided. That 
all its forms were not adopted without ex¬ 
ception we may take for granted. That 
liturgy appoints lessons to be read from the 
Apocrypha; but the Scottish Reformers ex¬ 
pressly confined their public reading to the 
lessons of the Old and New Testaments. It 
is certain, that, as early as 1564, the Book of 
Common Order of Geneva, was in extensive 
use in the Church of Scotland, under the 
sanction of the General Assembly. But it is 
equally certain, that the prayers and other 
forms prescribed in that book were not in¬ 
tended to be throughout rigorously im¬ 
posed on the conductors of public worship. 
It was, in fact, rather a “ Directory’’ for the 
worship of God, than a liturgy to be verbally 
and servilely repeated. In the Scottish 

Religion of the Church of England, previous to their ratifi¬ 
cation by Parliament.”— McCrie's Life of Knox , p. 67. 
Strype questions the truth of Weston’s statement, and says 
that Knox was hardly come into England, at least any further 
than New Castle, at this time. Annals, iii. 117. But there is 
complete proof that he arrived in England in the beginning 
of 1549.— McCrie, p. 68. 


136 


THOUGHTS ON 


Church, during the period in which this 
book was in use, the officiating minister was 
left at liberty to vary from it as he pleased, 
and to substitute prayers of his own in the 
room of those furnished in the book. The 
following quotations from the book will at 
once exemplify and confirm this statement: 
“ When the congregation is assembled at the 
hours appointed, the minister useth one of 
these two confessions, or like in effect” 
Again: “The minister after the sermon, 
useth this prayer following, or such like” 
Similar declarations are prefixed to the pray¬ 
ers to be used at the celebration of Baptism, 
and the Lord’s Supper. And. at the end of 
the account of the public service of the Sab¬ 
bath, this intimation is subjoined : “It shall 
not be necessary for the minister daily to re¬ 
peat all these things before mentioned; but 
beginning with some manner of confession , 
to proceed to the sermon, which, ended, he 
either useth the prayer for all estates before 
mentioned, or else prayeth as the Spirit of 
God shall move his heart , framing the same 
according to the time and matter he hath 
entreated of.” And at the end of the form 
of excommunication, it is signified: “This 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


137 


order may be enlarged or contracted, as the 
wisdom of the discreet mmister shall think ex - 
pedient. But we rather show the way to the 
ignorant, than prescribe order to the learned 
that cannot be amended.” The Scottish 
liturgy, then, was intended as a help to the 
ignorant, not as a restraint upon those who 
could pray without a set form. The “ read¬ 
ers” and “exhorters” commonly used it; 
but even they were encouraged to perform 
the service in a different manner,* that is, 
to acquire the habit of praying extempo¬ 
raneously to edification.f 

This Directory, as it seems never to have 
been servilely recited by the most intelligent 
of the clergy, so it was soon laid aside. How 
long it was used is uncertain. As the clergy 
became more learned and more pious, it gra¬ 
dually fell into disuse. 

Our chief concern at present is with those 
who regard liturgical forms of devotion, as 
not only highly desirable, but as even indis¬ 
pensable to a decent, edifying, and accepta¬ 
ble mode of conducting public prayer. In 

* Knox’s Liturgy, pp. 83, 84, 86,120,189. Dunlop’s Con¬ 
fessions. 

f McCrie’s Life of Knox, pp. 432, 433. 


138 THOUGHTS ON 

regard to such prescribed forms we shall 
endeavour to examine the arguments for and 
against them with as much impartiality and 
dispassionate respect to the reasonings of 
their friends, as possible. 

And here, let it be distinctly understood, 
as a preliminary remark, that we are very far 
from pronouncing, or even thinking, that it 
is unlawful to conduct prayer, either public 
or private, by a form. We should deem 
such a sentence or opinion altogether erro¬ 
neous. There is no reason to doubt that 
many a truly fervent and acceptable prayer 
has been offered in this manner. Some of 
the most excellent men that ever adorned the 
church of Christ have decisively preferred 
this method of conducting the devotions of 
the sanctuary; and have, no doubt, found it 
compatible with the most exalted spirit of 
prayer. We only contend, that such forms 
are not indispensable, as some contend, to 
orderly and edifying public prayer; that they 
are not equally edifying to all persons in all 
cases; that this is not, on the whole, the best 
mode of conducting the devotional services 
of the sanctuary; and, therefore, that to im¬ 
pose forms of prayer at all times, and upon 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


139 


all persons who publicly minister in holy 
things, and to confine them to the use of such 
forms, is by no means either desirable or wise. 

It is one of the main objects of the present 
volume, to impress upon the mind of every 
young Presbyterian minister who reads it, 
this sentiment, that while, on the one hand, 
the reading or recitation of prescribed prayers 
is by no means the best method of conduct¬ 
ing the devotions of the sanctuary, and is 
liable to many weighty objections; so, on 
the other hand, it is a great mistake to ima¬ 
gine that sacred attention to the mode of con¬ 
ducting this service, and preparation for it 
can be safely neglected, or made the object 
of only occasional or superficial study; in 
short, that every Presbyterian minister who 
wishes to make the most of his services in 
the sanctuary, for the glory of God, and the 
best edification of his people, is bound to pay 
a greatly increased attention to the whole 
subject of public prayer. 

In favour of constantly conducting the 
public devotions of the church by a pre¬ 
scribed liturgy, the following arguments 
have been commonly adduced. 

I. It is alleged that public prayer under 


140 


THOUGHTS ON 


the Old Testament economy was always con¬ 
ducted by prescribed forms. This has been 
asserted, but never proved. And even if it 
were proved, it would by no means follow 
that a similar ritual ought to be used now. 
No one contends that all that was prescribed 
and obligatory under the Old Testament 
economy is still binding, or that the exist¬ 
ence of any practice under that economy, 
makes it even lawful at present. Dr. Pri- 
deaux, indeed, with many others, as men¬ 
tioned in a preceding chapter, is very confi¬ 
dent in maintaining the existence of liturgies 
under the old economy, not only in the tem¬ 
ple, but also in the synagogue service. He 
gives, at length, what he calls the “ eighteen 
prayers/’ prepared and used, as he contends, 
long before the coming of Christ.* But 
many of the best judges of Jewish antiquities 
consider that learned and laborious writer as 
having altogether failed to establish his posi¬ 
tion. And this has been the case with some 
of his own denomination, who, notwithstand¬ 
ing all their habits and preferences on the 
side of liturgies, have been constrained to 
believe that some of these “eighteen prayers” 

* Connection, Part i. Book vi. 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


141 


bear internal proof of having been composed 
long after the coming of Christ.* Even in 
the temple service, for which so ample a pro¬ 
vision of forms was furnished, there was no 
prescribed form of prayer; and even in the 
synagogue, or ordinary Sabbatical service of 
the later Jews, it has not been shown that 
they had any prescribed prayers, and far less 
that they were confined to them. If they 
had any such imposed forms, it is indeed 
wonderful that we do not find in all the in¬ 
spired writings, in the works of Josephus or 
Philo, or in any other authentic writing, the 
least hint or allusion respecting them. 

II. We are referred by the advocates of 
liturgies to that form or method of prayer 
which was given by the Saviour to his disci¬ 
ples, commonly called the Lord’s Prayer, as 
presenting a plain example of that for which 
they contend. The remarks made in the 
preceding chapter in regard to this prayer, it 
is not necessary here to repeat. But it is 
believed that every impartial reader will 
deem them quite sufficient to destroy the 
force of the whole plea drawn from this 


Whitaker’s Origin of Arianism, Chap. iv. Sect. ii. p. 302. 

13 


142 


THOUGHTS ON 


source, as an argument in favour of pre¬ 
scribed forms of prayer. If we do not find 
that prayer recorded in the same words by 
any two of the Evangelists; if it be adapted 
in its style and structure to the Old, rather 
than the New Testament dispensation; if it 
speak of the kingdom of God as not yet 
come; if it ask for nothing in the name of 
Christ, which was afterwards so strictly en¬ 
joined; if, after the resurrection and ascen¬ 
sion of the Saviour, when the New Testa¬ 
ment Church was actually set up, we hear 
nothing more of this prayer as being at all in 
use in the apostolic age; surely all these con¬ 
siderations concur in proving that it could 
not have been intended by the Master to 
enjoin it upon his disciples to be observed as 
an exact and permanent form. 

Accordingly it is remarkable, as observed 
in the preceding chapter, that Augustine, in 
the fourth century, expresses the decisive 
opinion that Christ intended this prayer as a 
model rather than as a form; that he did not 
mean to teach his disciples what words they 
should use in prayer, but what things they 
should pray for; and understands it to be 
meant chiefly as a directory for secret and 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


143 


mental prayer, where words are not neces¬ 
sary.* 

III. The advocates of liturgies assure us 
that such prescribed forms of prayer were 
used in the apostolic age, and that they have 
been constantly in use in the purest and 
most enlightened portions of the Christian 
Church in all ages. But, unless I am greatly 
deceived, it has been demonstrated in the 
preceding chapter that no such statement 
can be made with truth; nay, that the con¬ 
trary appears from all authentic history. It 
is indeed evident that in the early church the 
Christians had psalms and hymns, which 
they had adopted, and which they agreed in 
singing; that in administering baptism, and 
the sacramental supper, they w^ere accus¬ 
tomed to employ the simple forms of admin¬ 
istration found in the New Testament; and 
that in dismissing their worshipping assem¬ 
blies, they were wont commonly to pronounce 
the apostolical benediction. But are there 
any regular churches on earth, even those 
which most entirely and confessedly exclude 
liturgies, which do not employ all the same 
auxiliaries in conducting the service of the 

* De Magistro, Cap. i. 


144 


THOUGHTS ON 


sanctuary? The Presbyterian Church has 
precisely all these; and yet is generally re¬ 
presented, and by some reproached, as having 
no liturgy. Indeed, would it be possible to 
unite in singing psalms or hymns without 
having them prepared and agreed upon be¬ 
fore hand? Is it an evidence, then, either of 
good sense, or of candour, to employ the ac¬ 
knowledged use of forms in the psalmody of 
the early church as an argument in favour of 
prescribed, and against free prayer ? But the 
simple and only proper question to be here 
decided, is, Had the Christian Church, du¬ 
ring the first five hundred years after Christ, 
prescribed forms of prayer, to which she was 
confined, or which she commonly employed 
in conducting her public devotions? How 
this question ought to be answered, has been 
shown, if I mistake not, conclusively in the 
preceding chapter. 

IV. A further argument, frequently urged 
by the friends of liturgies against extempo¬ 
rary prayer, is, that it is difficult to follow 
any one who does not pray by a form; in¬ 
deed, that we cannot know whether we can 
join him in each successive sentence until 
the sentence is finished : so that we must be 


TUBLIC PRAYER. 


145 


constantly kept in suspense until each peti¬ 
tion is completed. This objection to extem¬ 
porary prayer is chiefly imaginary. The 
difficulty which it represents as so formida¬ 
ble, is never really serious, and by habit is 
soon entirely overcome. Those who have 
complained of it at first, have acknowledged 
that, in a very little time, it ceased to incom¬ 
mode them. The operations of the mind are 
so rapid, that the moment a sober and scrip¬ 
tural petition is uttered, we can at once adopt 
it as our own. And, indeed, if free prayer 
be conducted in the best manner—that is, if 
it be founded on the matter and manner of 
the word of God, and abound in scriptural 
language, all who are familiar with the Bible 
can, of course, concur in and follow it with¬ 
out the least hesitation or embarrassment. 

V. Another plea often urged in favour of 
established liturgies, is, that when construct¬ 
ed up5n evangelical principles, they serve to 
perpetuate truth in the community by which 
they are used, and thus operate as a barrier 
against the inroads of error. We have the 
most palpable and undeniable evidence that 
this argument is far from being conclusive. 
There is, perhaps, n d church in the world in 
13 * 


148 


THOUGHTS ON 


of Christ, of redemption through his atoning 
blood, and of justification by his righteous¬ 
ness, are so interwoven with that whole 
formulary, that no one can honestly use it 
who does not cordially believe in these great 
doctrines of the evangelical system. And 
yet how many hundreds have actually been 
in the habit of repeating it all their lives, 
who did not believe one word of any of 
these doctrines, and who w r ere, of course, 
habitually guilty of that to which it is diffi¬ 
cult, consistently with Christian courtesy, to 
give an appropriate name ! 

VI. The last plea in favour of prescribed 
forms of prayer which will be mentioned, is, 
that they only can effectually prevent those 
crude, inappropriate and revolting effusions 
which are so apt to characterize the public 
prayers of those who conduct them without 
a form. This is, in fact, the most plausible 
argument in the whole catalogue in favour 
of liturgies, and one which it becomes the 
friends of free prayer seriously to ponder in 
their minds, and to regard as a stimulus to 
attention and improvement. True, indeed, 
liturgical services themselves have some¬ 
times been performed under circumstances, 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


149 


and in such a manner as to revolt every en¬ 
lightened and tasteful mind. The annals of 
the Church, if minutely examined, would 
furnish many such revolting examples. Still 
this fact does not justify the unseemly cha¬ 
racteristics of extempore prayer wherever 
they occur. It cannot be denied, that this 
part of the service of the sanctuary has not 
commonly received that degree of attention, 
and been marked with that degree of excel¬ 
lence which ought to have been reached. 
The true remedy, however, is, not to have 
recourse to liturgies; but to apply to those 
means which will prepare to lead in public 
devotions in a fluent, appropriate, acceptable 
and edifying manner. We have seen what 
means Augustine recommended for correct¬ 
ing the faults of extempore prayer in his 
day; not to resort to liturgies, which had not 
been introduced; but to seek counsel and 
aid from the more experienced, pious and 
wise. 

So much for the arguments usually ad¬ 
duced in favour of liturgies. Let us now 
turn to those considerations which satisfy 
Presbyterians that the liturgical plan of pub¬ 
lic worship is not the most eligible, and 


150 


THOUGHTS ON 


which lead them to a corresponding prac¬ 
tice. And, 

I. Why ought public prayers to be pre¬ 
scribed and imposed more than discourses 
from the pulpit ? It is well known, indeed, 
that at an early period of the proceedings for 
reforming the Church of England, two books 
of “ Homilies,” or popular sermons, were ac¬ 
tually prepared, and put into the hands of 
the officiating clergy to be read in order, and 
in rotation in all their pulpits. Yet I know 
not that even then ministers of acknowledged 
learning and talents were forbidden to com¬ 
pose and deliver such sermons as they 
thought proper to give. But why should 
restraint be exercised with regard to prayer, 
and not to preaching? If it be alleged that 
in prayer we speak to God, and, therefore, 
ought to exercise great reverence and con¬ 
sideration; is it not equally evident that in 
faithful gospel preaching, it is God speaking 
to us by his accredited servant; and that, of 
course, we ought to “ take heed” with no less 
attention, reverence, and awe, “how and 
what we hear?” Why, then, is it more safe 
or more wise to permit ministers to preach 
as they please, than it is to allow them to 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


151 


pray as they please? If it be said, that the 
mass of ministers are now more enlightened 
and pious than they were when those formu¬ 
laries w r ere composed for their use, the an¬ 
swer may be admitted; but it applies equally 
to the prayers as to the instructions of the 
sanctuary. 

II. We are persuaded that liturgies have 
no countenance in the word of God, and 
were unknown in the primitive apostolic 
Church; and, as Protestants, we feel bound 
to adopt and act upon the principle, that 
that which is not contained in Holy Scrip¬ 
ture, or which cannot, by good and neces¬ 
sary consequence, be deduced from that 
which is contained in it, ought to have no 
place in the Church of God. In reply to 
this argument, it has been strangely and 
weakly alleged, by those who have been 
constrained to yield to the force of historical 
testimony on this subject, that the only rea¬ 
son why liturgies were not used in the 
infancy of the Church, was, that the ene¬ 
mies of Christianity were so numerous, and 
those who united in her worship were so 
very few, that there were none to make the 
necessary responses, and that it was judged 


152 


THOUGHTS ON 


better not to use prescribed forms at all than 
to use them imperfectly. Those who are 
capable of satisfying themselves with this 
subterfuge, forget that the preachers of the 
gospel, at the earliest period of their minis¬ 
try, went forth, not alone, but “ two and two;” 
that scarcely any case can be imagined in 
which one or more auxiliary voices might 
not have been put in requisition; and that, 
if this mode of worship had been deemed by 
the great Head of the Church not only most 
eligible, but so important to Christian edifica¬ 
tion as many of its advocates now deem it, 
nothing would have been more easy than for 
the omnipotent King of Zion so to order the 
affairs of his Church, from the outset, as to 
open the way for its introduction. The truth 
is, however, that even in Jerusalem, where 
there were thousands of Christians, and in 
Antioch, where there were also many, and 
where, of course, responses would have been 
easy, we find no such practice recorded, or 
even hinted at. There was manifestly no 
such thing. 

III. We not only find no evidence of any 
prescribed forms of prayer having been used 
in the apostolic age; but we do find testi- 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


153 

s 

mony which plainly implies that no such 
forms were either prescribed or in use in the 
apostolic churches. If such forms had been 
established, where was the occasion, or even 
the propriety of Paul’s exhorting Timothy to 
take care that “prayers, intercessions, and 
giving of thanks be made for all men; for 
kings, and all in authority, that the people 
might lead quiet and peaceable lives in all 
godliness and honesty?* Can we suppose 
that liturgies had then been formed and 
established by the authority of inspired men? 
If so, had these subjects of petition been 
omitted in the prescribed formulary? This 
supposition would be strange indeed in re¬ 
gard to a liturgy formed by apostolic men. 
And if there had been no forms prescribed, 
how came it to pass that the Apostle, in pro¬ 
viding for the appropriate performance of 
this part of the service of the sanctuary, con¬ 
tented himself with giving a general “ direc¬ 
tory,” rather than prescribing a precise form 
of words? Truly, it is impossible for an im¬ 
partial mind to examine the New Testament 
without perceiving that it gives no counte- 


* 1 Tim. ii. 1. 

14 


154 


THOUGHTS ON 


nance whatever to such a system of ritualism 
as that for which the zealous advocates of 
liturgies contend. 

Prescribed forms of prayer appear to have 
been unknown in the Christian Church for 
several hundred years after Christ. If the 
writer of these pages is not deceived, he has 
already produced ample proof of this. That 
testimony need not be repeated here. And 
indeed this fact is not denied by some of the 
most learned and zealous advocates of liturgi¬ 
cal services. Now, that which had no place- 
in the earliest, purest, and best periods of the 
history of the Church, it surely cannot re¬ 
quire much argument to show, is not essen¬ 
tial to the edification of the body of Christ, 
and ought not to be considered as binding on 
his disciples. Some, indeed, have been so 
unreasonable as to contend, that, although no 
single public prayer was reduced to writing 
for the first four or five hundred years after 
Christ, yet much, if not the greater part, of 
the public prayer of that period was repeated 
from memory. This is a supposition as in¬ 
credible as it is gratuitous. That which is 
delivered from memory is, of course, some¬ 
thing previously composed. But where did 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


155 


those who committed to memory and repeat¬ 
ed these prayers, obtain them? When, and 
by whom were they composed? Were they, 
as some dreamers imagine to have been the 
case with regard to the Homeric poems— 
floating in the popular mind for generations 
before they were committed to writing ? If 
so, the difficulty is not yet solved. Was the 
Church their original parent? or did they 
originate in some single “ master mind,” 
without the Church's authority? If so, 
where is the evidence, on either supposition? 
Surely it is unreasonable, in a historical ar¬ 
gument, to ask us to be satisfied with imagi¬ 
nation or conjecture, instead of testimony. 

But if, by alleging the early prayers to 
have been memoriter , be meant, that those 
who offered them, seldom uttered anything 
but that which they had either found in the 
Bible, or had heard from the wise and pious 
w r ho had gone before them ; it was probably 
even sOj though there is absolutely no direct 
evidence to that amount in early Christian 
antiquity. But nothing can be more proba¬ 
ble. That, however, is no argument against 
that prayer having been, throughout, extem¬ 
poraneous. For there is probably no leader 


154 


THOUGHTS ON 


nance whatever to such a system of ritualism 
as that for which the zealous advocates of 
liturgies contend. 

Prescribed forms of prayer appear to have 
been unknown in the Christian Church for 
several hundred years after Christ. If the 
writer of these pages is not deceived, he has 
already produced ample proof of this. That 
testimony need not be repeated here. And 
indeed this fact is not denied by some of the 
most learned and zealous advocates of liturgi¬ 
cal services. Now, that which had no place 
in the earliest, purest, and best periods of the 
history of the Church, it surely cannot re¬ 
quire much argument to show, is not essen¬ 
tial to the edification of the body of Christ, 
and ought not to be considered as binding on 
his disciples. Some, indeed, have been so 
unreasonable as to contend, that, although no 
single public prayer was reduced to writing 
for the first four or five hundred years after 
Christ, yet much, if not the greater part, of 
the public prayer of that period was repeated 
from memory. This is a supposition as in¬ 
credible as it is gratuitous. That which is 
delivered from memory is, of course, some¬ 
thing previously composed. But where did 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


155 


those who committed to memory and repeat¬ 
ed these prayers, obtain them? When, and 
by whom were they composed? Were they, 
as some dreamers imagine to have been the 
case with regard to the Homeric poems— 
floating in the popular mind for generations 
before they were committed to writing? If 
so, the difficulty is not yet solved. Was the 
Church their original parent? or did they 
originate in some single “master mind,” 
without the Church’s authority? If so, 
where is the evidence, on either supposition? 
Surely it is unreasonable, in a historical ar¬ 
gument, to ask us to be satisfied with imagi¬ 
nation or conjecture, instead of testimony. 

But if, by alleging the early prayers to 
have been memoriter , be meant, that those 
who offered them, seldom uttered anything 
but that which they had either found in the 
Bible, or had heard from the wise and pious 
who had gone before them ; it was probably 
even S 0 j though there is absolutely no direct 
evidence to that amount in early Christian 
antiquity. But nothing can be more proba¬ 
ble. That, however, is no argument against 
that prayer having been, throughout, extem¬ 
poraneous. For there is probably no leader 


156 


THOUGHTS ON 


in extempore prayer at this hour who is 
often found to utter anything but what he 
has found in substance in sacred Scripture, 
or has heard, directly or indirectly, from the 
lips of some venerated father of the church. 

IV. Confining ministers to forms of 
prayer in public worship tends to restrain 
and discourage both the spirit and the gift 
of prayer. The constant repetition of the 
same words, from year to year, is, undoubt¬ 
edly, adapted, with multitudes of persons, 
to produce dullness and a loss of interest. 
We are very sure that it is so with not a 
few. Bishop Wilkins, though a firm friend 
to the use of liturgies, when needed, argues 
strongly against confining ourselves to such 
“crutches,” as he emphatically calls them; 
and expresses the opinion, that giving vent 
to the desires and affections of the heart in 
extemporary prayer, is highly favourable to 
lively religious feeling and growth in grace. 
The following sentences are decisively ex¬ 
pressive of this opinion. “ For any one to 
sit down and satisfy himself with this book- 
prayer, or some prescript form, so as to go 
no further, this were still to remain in his 
infancy, and not to grow up into his new 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


157 


nature. This would be as if a man who 
had once need of crutches, should always 
afterwards make use of them, and so neces¬ 
sitate himself to a continual impotence. It 
is the duty of every Christian to grow and 
increase in all the parts of Christianity, as 
well gifts as graces; to exercise and improve 
every holy gift, and not to stifle any of those 
abilities wherewith God hath endowed them. 
Now, how can a man be said to live suitable 
to these rules who does not put forth himself 
in some attempts and endeavours of this kind? 
And, then, besides, how can a man suit his 
desires unto several emergencies? What 
one says of counsel to be had from books, may 
be fitly applied to this prayer by book; that 
it is commonly of itself something flat and 
dead, floating for the most part too much in 
generalities, and not particular enough for 
each several occasion. There is not that 
life and vigour in it, to engage the affections, 
as when it proceeds immediately from the 
soul itself, and is the natural expression of 
those particulars whereof we are most sen¬ 
sible.”* 

* Discourse concerning the Gift of Prayer, &c., chap. ii. 
pp. 9, 10. 


14 * 


158 


THOUGHTS ON 


The same opinion is also expressed by 
Bishop Hall, in a work written at a period 
when the subject of liturgies was discussed 
in his church with great learning and warmth, 
in which he delivers his opinion in the fol¬ 
lowing decisive and pointed language. 

“Far be it from me to dishearten any good 
Christian from the use of conceived prayer 
in his private devotions, and upon occasion 
also in public. I would hate to be guilty of 
pouring so much water on the spirit, to 
which I would gladly add oil rather. No, 
let the full soul freely pour out itself in gra¬ 
cious expressions of its holy thoughts into the 
bosom of the Almighty. Let both the sud¬ 
den flashes of our quick ejaculations, and the 
constant flames of our more fixed concep¬ 
tions, mount up from the altar of a zealous 
heart unto the throne of grace; and if there 
be some stops or solecisms in the fervent 
utterance of our private wants, these are so 
far from being offensive, that they are the 
most pleasing music in the ears of that God 
unto whom our prayers come. Let them be 
broken off with sighs and sobs, and incon¬ 
gruities of our delivery; our good God is no 
otherwise affected to this imperfect elocution 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


159 


than an indulgent parent is to the clipped 
and broken language of his dear child, which 
is more delightful to him than any other’s 
smooth oratory. This is not to be opposed 
in another by any man that hath found the 
true operations of this grace in himself. What 
I have professed concerning conceived prayer, 
is that which I have ever allowed, ever prac¬ 
tised, both in private and public. God is a 
free Spirit, and so should ours be in pouring 
out our voluntary devotions upon all occa¬ 
sions. Nothing hinders but that this liberty 
and a public liturgy should be good friends, 
and go hand in hand together; and whosoever 
would forcibly separate them, let them bear 
their own blame. The over vigorous press¬ 
ing of the liturgy to the jostling out of 
preaching and of conceived prayer, never 
was intended either by the law makers or by 
the moderate governors of the church.”* 

I have known persons who in early life 
were in the habitual use of extemporary 
prayer, and who were then remarkably fer¬ 
vent and fluent in that exercise; but who, 
afterwards, from long confinement to forms, 

* Humble Remonstrance for Liturgy and Episcopacy, and 
Defence of the Remonstrance. 


160 


THOUGHTS ON 


in a great measure lost the gift of extempo¬ 
raneous prayer, and became embarrassed 
whenever they undertook to lead in social 
devotion. Examples of this might easily be 
selected, were it not inexpedient to detail per¬ 
sonal anecdotes concerning men highly re¬ 
spectable for piety as well as intelligence, 
and on a subject too grave for ludicrous asso¬ 
ciations. We had republished in this coun¬ 
try, a few years ago, a pamphlet entitled 
‘‘Scotch Presbyterian Eloquence Displayed,” 
in which great pains were taken by a friend 
of liturgies to pour ridicule upon extempora¬ 
neous prayer by quoting, or feigning speci¬ 
mens of it from the mouths of Presbyterian 
ministers. It would not be difficult to pro¬ 
duce an equally extended array of real cases 
in which Episcopal ministers, when cut off 
from the use of their prayer-books, have been 
perplexed and helpless to a deplorable degree. 

It is said of the celebrated Bishop Patrick, 
that he had once remarkably excelled in free 
prayer; but that, toward the close of life, 
lodging at the house of a dissenter, with 
whom he had been long and affectionately 
intimate, he was requested to take the lead 
in family-worship, which he undertook; but 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


161 


was so much embarrassed, that he broke off 
in the midst of the prayer, arose from his 
knees, and apologized to his friend for his 
inability to proceed. His friend, perhaps 
more faithful than delicate, approaching him, 
said—“ My friend, you have made a misera¬ 
ble exchange for your lawn sleeves and your 
mitre.” This anecdote is related, not for the 
purpose of depreciating the character of a 
truly eminent man, but to show, by a strong 
case, that, even a man possessing all the 
talents, learning, and piety, conceded to 
Bishop Patrick, if he ceases to exercise the 
gift of free prayer, will soon in a great mea¬ 
sure lose it. 

V. No prescribed forms of prayer, how¬ 
ever ample or diversified, can be accommo¬ 
dated to all the circumstances, exigencies, 
and wants of either individual Christians, or 
a number of worshipping assemblies. Not 
only special dispensations of Providence, and 
the continual changes going on in the church 
and the world; but the unceasing changes in 
the state of our own minds, can never be 
appropriately and fully expressed by any 
prescribed and immutable form. Now, when 
cases of this kind occur, which are not pro- 


162 


THOUGHTS ON 


vided for in the prescribed form, what is to 
be done? Either extemporary prayer must 
be ventured upon, or the cases in question 
cannot be carried at all before the throne of 
grace. 

A practical comment on this consideration 
was presented at the General Convention of 
the Protestant Episcopal Church in the 
United States, which met last year, (1847.) 
One of the clerical members of that body, 
in the course of its proceedings, stated that, 
a short time before, a pious and grateful 
mother requested him to offer public thanks 
to God, on her behalf, for a signal domestic 
mercy. He was obliged, as he stated, to in¬ 
form her, that the Church had made no spe¬ 
cific provision for returning thanks in such 
cases; and that he was not able to comply 
with her request. He, therefore, suggested, 
wdiefher it would not be expedient to frame a 
new office adapted to such a case, and add it 
to the liturgy. His proposal was laid on the 
table, and eventually dismissed, on the dis¬ 
tinct plea, that it was not desirable to favour 
innovation; that they had a liturgy venera¬ 
ble for its age, and sufficiently comprehen¬ 
sive for all desirable purposes; and that it 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


163 


was not wise to make provision in detail for 
such cases as that which he had proposed. 

VI. It is no small argument against con¬ 
fining ministers and people to a prescribed 
form, that whenever religion is in a lively 
state in the heart of a minister accustomed 
to use a liturgy, and especially when it is 
powerfully revived among the members of 
his church, his form of prayer will seldom 
fail to be deemed more or less of a restraint, 
and liberty of free prayer to be desired. 
And this feeling will commonly either vent 
itself in fervent, extemporary prayer, or ex¬ 
perience a sense of painful restraint under 
the prohibition; and perhaps be sensible of 
a diminution of spiritual life and enjoyment. 
The excellent Mr. Baxter remarks, that “ a 
constant form is a certain way to bring the 
soul to a cold, insensible, formal worship.”* 
This language is by no means intended to 
assert, that there can be no real fervour of de¬ 
votion where a form is constantly used, and 
even continued fervour to the end. of life; 
but that strict confinement to such a form 
has a tendency to impair the warmth and 
the spirit of prayer; and that indulging the 

* Five Disputations, &c., p. 385. 


164 


THOUGHTS ON 


love of variety which is inherent in human 
nature, is friendly to vivid feeling, and heart¬ 
felt impression. 

Besides, there are circumstances and situ¬ 
ations in which a prescribed and often re¬ 
peated form, however comprehensive and 
good, is not found to meet all the feelings 
and desires of a devout soul breathing after 
heaven. And hence there are moments 
when those who, both by conviction and 
habit, are most devoted to the use of liturgi¬ 
cal forms, are willing to lay them aside. It 
is recorded of the celebrated Archbishop 
Seeker, whose learning, talents, and warm 
attachment to the formularies of his church 
have been exceeded by few, that w T hen he 
was confined to his bed by a broken limb, 
which ultimately terminated his life, he was 
visited at Lambeth by the Rev. Mr. Talbot, 
a Presbyter of his own church, who was 
remarkably pious, and who had long been, 
on terms of great intimacy with him. The 
dying prelate said to him, in the course 
of the interview—“ Talbot, you will pray 
with me;” and when he saw Mr. Talbot ris¬ 
ing to look for a prayer-book, he added— 
“That is not what I want now; kneel down 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


165 


by me, and pray for me in the way I know 
you are used to do.” The pious man did as 
he was requested. He poured out his heart 
in feeling and affectionate intercession for 
his illustrious friend, and took leave of him 
for the last time.* 

VII. More than all this; there are exi¬ 
gencies in human life, in which the feeling 
heart is not only willing to lay aside pre¬ 
scribed forms as inadequate to the expres¬ 
sion of our wants, but to turn away from 
them as in a great measure inapplicable. 
Let us figure to ourselves the situation of 
the large number of passengers who per¬ 
ished in the unfortunate steamer Atlantic, 
on the Long Island Sound, several years 
ago. The painful uncertainty, for a number 
of hours together, the protracted sufferings, 
and the final destruction of a large company 
of passengers, will not soon be forgotten by 
any who read the strong descriptions of that 
agonizing scene given at the time. Among 
the large number who met their death on 
that melancholy occasion, there were some 
truly pious people; some qualified and dis- 

* Quoted by the Rev. Professor Porter, of Andover, in his 
Lectures on Homiletics. 


. 15 


166 


THOUGHTS ON 


posed to take refuge in the hopes and duties 
of religion. But what would have been their 
situation if, in the few broken opportunities 
for social prayer which were allowed them, 
they had been confined to liturgical forms? 
The very thought is revolting to the intelli¬ 
gent and pious mind. Surely the most ser¬ 
vile admirers of such forms must see that 
something else was needed on such an occa¬ 
sion as this. 

In like manner, let us contemplate the 
situation of a body of people like that of the 
inhabitants of Paris, a few months ago, when 
an enormous infuriated mob rose up against 
the government; when the whole country 
was agitated and alarmed; when thousands 
on both sides fell victims to the violence of 
civil war; and when, for four days together, 
the population of that great city knew not 
but that every house w'ould be a scene of 
blood. It is to be feared that few, compara¬ 
tively, of that agitated and infuriated mass 
had any disposition to pray, or any scriptu¬ 
ral or intelligent views of a throne of grace. 
But what liturgy was ever adapted, or could 
possibly be adapted, to such a scene as that ? 
Suppose the anxious, aching heart, occupied 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


167 


in pouring out all the fulness of its solici¬ 
tudes, and all the urgency of its wants, at 
such a time, into the ears of the Lord of 
Sabaotli; or suppose a praying circle, in a 
retired street, if any street, at such a season, 
could be retired, and to have no other means 
of directing their petitions than the pages of 
a stated liturgy—what would be their feel¬ 
ings? Could they possibly regard the pro¬ 
vision as either seasonable or satisfying ? 
Could they, by means of such a form, cry to 
their covenant God, with the plenary utter¬ 
ance of the heart, as the people of God evi¬ 
dently did under the Old and the New Tes¬ 
tament dispensations, when visited with spe¬ 
cial trials? 

Take a single case more. Not long since, 
in one of the steamboats belonging to a pas¬ 
senger line between New York and Phila¬ 
delphia, there was a young lady of respecta¬ 
ble connections, and of highly interesting 
personal character, who, in the course of her 
passage on the Delaware, fell into the river, 
and was with great difficulty rescued from 
drowning. She was, however, finally taken 
from the water and brought back into the 
boat, in a state of entire insensibility. After 


168 


THOUGHTS ON 


half an hour spent in deep anxiety and dis¬ 
tress respecting her, and in the laborious use 
of every restorative effort, animation was 
happily restored. When she regained her 
consciousness, a deep religious sentiment, 
for which she had long been remarkable, 
prompted her earnestly to beg those about 
her to unite in returning thanks to God for 
her happy deliverance. It was known that 
there was an Episcopal clergyman on board 
the boat; and he was requested to descend 
into the cabin, and to conduct such a service. 
He declined acceding to the request, on the 
plea that there was not in his prayer-book 
any office adapted to meet the case, or the 
expectations and wishes of the group who 
made the request. The consequence was, 
that a pious friend, who had been long ac¬ 
customed to lead in extempore prayer, at¬ 
tended, and led the sympathizing, grateful 
circle in a most solemn and acceptable 
thanksgiving service. 

If I know my own heart, I abhor the 
thought of employing the weapon of ridicule 
to the discredit of liturgical forms. It would 
be unreasonable to expect such forms to be 
provided for all supposable cases. But, in 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


169 


all sincerity and respectfulness, I must re¬ 
gard as essentially defective a system which, 
while it does not, and acknowledges that it 
cannot, provide for all cases which may 
arise, yet frowns upon all the prompt and 
voluntary provision which the dispensations 
of Providence demand, and which heart-felt 
piety, and habitual communion with God, 
may be ready to furnish. 

In the Church of England, when any 
great national calamity, or national blessing 
occurs, no minister of that church can pub¬ 
licly recognize it in prayer, until the ecclesi¬ 
astical Primate thinks proper to move in the 
business, and to prepare and authorize an 
appropriate prayer for the occasion. How 
the Episcopal Church in this country would 
manage a similar occurrence, I know not. 
Would her ministers, with one accord, keep 
silence with regard to it in the reading-desk, 
until the next triennial convention should 
provide an adequate authority for framing 
and publishing a new form, or some bishop, 
or bench of bishops should “take order” in 
the case? Would this be to enjoy that spi¬ 
ritual liberty with which Christ came to 
make his people free? 

15 * 


170 


THOUGHTS ON 


These and other allied considerations, sat¬ 
isfy me, beyond a doubt, that the claims of 
liturgies, as the best method ot conducting 
our public devotions, and, above all, as the 
exclusive method, cannot be sustained. After 
carefully comparing the advantages and dis¬ 
advantages of free and prescribed prayer, the 
argument, whether drawn from Scripture, 
from ecclesiastical history, or from Christian 
experience, is clearly in favour of the free or 
extemporary plan. True, indeed, its gene¬ 
rally preferable and edifying character, may 
sometimes be marred by weak, or ignorant 
men; but we have no hesitation in saying 
that the balance is manifestly and greatly in 
its favour. As long as ministers of the gos¬ 
pel are educated and pious men, “workmen 
that need not be ashamed,” qualified “rightly 
to divide the word of truth,” and “ mighty 
in the Scriptures,” they will find no difficulty 
in conducting extemporary prayer to the 
honour of religion, and to the edification of 
the Church. When they cease to possess 
this character, the case is undoubtedly al¬ 
tered. They then must have, and ought to 
have some aid provided for them. It was 
precisely in such a state of things—that is, 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


171 


when both intelligence and piety were de¬ 
clining—that the use of liturgies arose, and 
gradually crept into the Church, as we have 
seen in a former chapter, in the fifth and 
sixth centuries after Christ. But it is mani¬ 
festly the fault of ministers, if extempore 
prayer be not, what it may and ought ever to 
be, far more feeling and full of spiritual life 
and interest, than any imposed and often re¬ 
peated form can be. Yes, it is the fault of 
the officiating minister in the Presbyterian 
Church, if prayer be not made the most ten¬ 
der, touching, and deeply impressive of all 
the services of the public sanctuary. When 
shall it thus be? May the Lord hasten it in 
his time! 

The views of this subject taken by our 
venerated fathers, will appear from the fol¬ 
lowing statement. The Liturgy of the 
Church of England was the prevailing, the 
almost universal formulary of public devo¬ 
tion in England up to the time when the 
Westminster Assembly of Divines was called 
together by the parliament, in 1643. There 
were individuals, indeed, who, anterior to 
that, considered the imposition of prescribed 
forms of prayer as unscriptural and by no 


172 


THOUGHTS ON 


means friendly to Christian edification; who 
thought that the Reformation in this respect 
had not been carried as far as it ought to 
have been: but still there were few indi¬ 
vidual ministers, and still fewer religious so¬ 
cieties that dared to act upon this principle, 
and to indulge without restraint in their 
public assemblies, in extemporary prayer. 
In this state of the English nation, when the 
Assembly of divines came together, almost all 
of them having been episcopally ordained, 
and accustomed to the ritual of the estab¬ 
lished church, their prejudices and their old 
habits would, of course, naturally incline 
them, as far as they conscientiously could, to 
favour the old and established plan of wor¬ 
ship. Accordingly, soon after the Assembly 
met, they received a message from the par¬ 
liament, urging them to attend to the lit¬ 
urgy, and to report thereon to both houses 
of parliament “ with all convenient speed.” 

Under this urgency, after some discussion, 
the Assembly agreed, by a large majority, to 
lay aside the use of all prescribed and im¬ 
posed forms, and to report in favour of ex¬ 
temporary prayer. But, in order to avoid 
the imputation of opening the door too wide 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


173 


to irregular and undigested effusions in 
public worship, it was agreed to form and 
recommend to the parliament what was de¬ 
nominated a “ Directory for the Worship of 
of God.” Against this plan for regulating 
the exercise of public prayer, the Independ¬ 
ents, who formed a very small part of the 
Assembly, at first protested, as infringing 
the perfect liberty of prayer, which they 
thought desirable. They wished to leave 
the whole subject without regulation. Fur¬ 
ther discussion, however, reconciled the 
most, if not all of this party to the new plan, 
and the Directory at length passed the As¬ 
sembly with great unanimity. 

In reporting the Directory, as a plan in¬ 
tended to supersede the Liturgy, the Assem¬ 
bly offer the following reasons: 

“ It is evident,” say they, “ after long and 
sad experience, that the Liturgy used in the 
Church of England, notwithstanding the 
pains and the religious intentions of the 
compilers, has proved an offence to many of 
the godly at home, and to the reformed 
churches abroad. The enjoining the read¬ 
ing of all the prayers heightened the griev- 


174 


THOUGHTS ON 


ance; and the many unprofitable and bur¬ 
densome ceremonies have occasioned much 
mischief, by disquieting the consciences of 
many who could not yield to them. Sundry 
good people have been kept by this means 
from the Lord’s table, and many faithful 
ministers debarred from the exercise of their 
ministry, to the ruin of them and their fami¬ 
lies. The prelates and their faction have 
raised their estimation of it to such a height, 
as though God could be worshipped no other 
way but by the service-book ; in consequence 
of which the preaching of the word has been 
depreciated, and, in some places, entirely ne¬ 
glected. In the meantime the Papists have 
made their advantage, this way, boasting 
that the Common Prayer Book came up to a 
compliance with a great part of their ser¬ 
vice ; by which means they were not a little 
confirmed in their idolatry and superstition; 
especially of late, when new ceremonies 
were obtruded in the church daily. Be¬ 
sides, the liturgy has given great encour¬ 
agement to an idle and unedifying ministry, 
who have chosen rather to confine them¬ 
selves to forms made to their hands, than to 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


175 


exert themselves in the gift of prayer, with 
which our Saviour furnishes all those he 
calls to that office. 

“For these and many other weighty con¬ 
siderations, relating to the book in general, 
besides divers particulars which are a just 
ground of offence, it is thought advisable to 
set aside the former liturgy, with the many 
rites and ceremonies formerly used in the 
worship of God; not out of any affectation 
of novelty, nor with any intention to dis¬ 
parage our first Reformers, but that we may 
answer, in some measure, the gracious pro¬ 
vidence of God, which now calls upon us 
for a further reformation; that we may 
satisfy our own consciences; answer the ex¬ 
pectations of other Reformed Churches; 
ease the consciences of many godly persons 
among ourselves, and give a public testi¬ 
mony of our endeavours after an uniformity 
in Divine worship, pursuant to what we 
have promised.”* 

Nor did these views originate in the West¬ 
minster Assembly, or in: the men of that 

* See Neal’s History of the Puritans, Vol. ii. 106. quarto 
edition. 


I 


176 THOUGHTS ON PUBLIC PRAYER. 

generation. Three quarters of a century 
before that Assembly met, some of the most 
pious and learned men in England, and not 
a few of them dignitaries of the Church, 
spoke the same language. While they did 
not deny the lawfulness of using set forms 
of prayer, they complained of being con¬ 
fined to them, and earnestly petitioned for 
the privilege of using extemporary prayer 
both before and after sermon. They also 
complained of responses in prayer, as having 
no foundation in the word of God, or in the 
purest ages of antiquity. But their com¬ 
plaints were disregarded, and their petitions 
met with no favour. 


177 


CHAPTER IV. 

FREQUENT FAULTS OF PUBLIC PRAYER. 

In all the exercises of the pulpit, mannerism 
is apt, on all sides, to creep in; that is, cer¬ 
tain favourite thoughts, illustrations, or modes 
of expression are apt to obtrude themselves 
more frequently than occasion demands, or 
than good taste allows. Such thoughts or 
expressions may become, if often repeated, 
highly offensive to pious and cultivated wor¬ 
shippers. This is more especially the case, 
if they be repugnant to either good grammar 
or good sense. These are of various kinds, 
and have, of course, very different degrees 
of offensiveness. It is the province of good 
sense and of good taste to avoid them. And 
it is surely incumbent upon all who are 
called to officiate in the service in question, 
to be unceasingly on the watch to guard 
against every thing adapted to inflict pain, 
or interfere with the edification of a single 
mind. 


16 


178 


THOUGHTS ON 


It is far from being my aim to encourage 
that spirit of excessive refinement, that fas¬ 
tidious intolerance of minor blemishes in the 
devotions of the sanctuary which is some¬ 
times manifested by those who care much 
more about the taste of the external cere¬ 
monies, than about the life and power of 
religion. I would earnestly deprecate the 
indulgence of such a spirit in the house of 
God. It ought to be as much as possible 
banished from our public assemblies. Still, 
while we caution serious minds against 
being too much revolted even by real blem¬ 
ishes in the mode of conducting public 
devotion, we ought not to hide from our¬ 
selves that they are blemishes, which it is 
far better to avoid than to defend. 

The faults which I have in view are as 
various as they are multiplied. I shall mere¬ 
ly specify a few; others will readily occur to 
enlightened and vigilant observers. 

I. In the first place, a very common fault 
is the over frequent recurrence of favourite 
words, and set forms of expression, how¬ 
ever unexceptionable in themselves. Among 
these are the constant repetition in every 
sentence or two, of the names and titles of 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


179 


God; the perpetual recurrence of the modes 
of expression, “ O God!—great God!—our 
heavenly Father!—holy Father!”—“ we pray 
thee”—“we beseech thee”—“we entreat 
thee to grant,” &c., or the excessive use of 
the interjection Oh! prefixed to almost every 
sentence. With many, these appear to be 
mere expletives; with others, they seem to 
furnish a kind of resting place for the mind, 
to afford an opportunity for reflecting on 
what is to follow; and hence they have been 
called the “ setting poles ” of preaching and 
prayer. In all they fill up a space which 
might be better occupied by coming directly 
to the object itself prayed for. Besides, 
this incessant repetition of particular words 
or phrases, renders them cheap, and, after 
a time, not merely superfluous, but disgust¬ 
ing—a feeling which ought to be as much 
as possible banished from every devotional 
exercise. Nay, there is something in this 
matter more serious still. If the constant 
repetition of the name of the Most High, 
even in prayer, be not “ taking the name of 
the Lord our God in vain,” it certainly ap¬ 
proaches very near to that sin. We are 
sometimes called to join in prayers in which 


180 


THOUGHTS ON 


that holy name occurs in almost every sen¬ 
tence from the beginning to the end. 

II. Hesitation and apparent embarrass¬ 
ment in utterance, is another fault of very 
frequent occurrence, and a real blemish in 
the leader in public devotion. As all prayer 
is to be regarded as the utterance of the 
heart, so the suppliant ought to be supposed 
to be at no loss, to have no hesitation about 
the blessing which he solicits. When, 
therefore, he pauses, stumbles, recalls, or 
goes back to correct, he unavoidably gives 
pain to every fellow-worshipper, and always 
leaves the impression of a mind less intent, 
a heart less fervently engaged, than it ought 
to be. All stammering, then, all pauses, all 
recalling or exchanging words, all want of 
proper fluency; in short, every thing adapt¬ 
ed to impair, for a moment, the confidence of 
fellow-worshippers in the ability of him who 
leads, to get on with entire ease, comfort, and 
success, ought to be deemed real faults, and 
to be as much as possible avoided. 

III. All ungrammatical expressions in 
prayer—all expressions foreign from Eng¬ 
lish idiom, and bordering on the style of cant 
and whining, low and colloquial phrases, 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


181 


&c., ought, of course, to be regarded as 
blemishes, and to be carefully avoided. 
These are by no means so uncommon as 
might be supposed. Even educated men, 
by inadvertence, by strange habit, by vari¬ 
ous unaccountable means, are betrayed into 
faults of this kind, and are sometimes found 
to adhere to them with wonderful obstinacy. 
Of these there will be an attempt to give a 
small specimen only. It is no uncommon 
thing to hear ministers, who, in other re¬ 
spects, are entitled to the character of cor¬ 
rect speakers, say, “ Grant to give us the sanc¬ 
tifying power of the Holy Spirit “Grant 
to impart to us the consolations of thy 
grace“ Come down in our midst;” “ Make 
one in our midst;” “ Lay us out for thyself;” 
“We commit us to thee;” “We resign us 
into thy hands“ Solemnize our minds.” 
These, and many similar expressions, are 
among the minor instances, which too often 
occur, of forgetfulness of English idiom, and 
of strict grammatical rules. The more gross 
offences against both are passed over here, 
as too revolting to be recited, and as not to 
be corrected by cursory hints, but by a re¬ 
turn to radical instruction. True, indeed, 
16 * 


182 


THOUGHTS ON 


where there is much of the “ spirit of 
prayer,” much of that faith and love and 
elevated devotion which belong to the “ fer¬ 
vent, effectual prayer of the righteous man,” 
we ought not to indulge, as before remarked, 
in too much fastidiousness in regard to lan¬ 
guage. Yet, while it is admitted that the 
formality of carefully adjusted rhetoric ought 
to have no place in either secret or social 
prayer; while “ the enticing words of man’s 
wisdom” ought not to be sought in the cry 
of sinners for pardoning mercy and sanctify¬ 
ing grace—still, he who undertakes to be 
the leader and helper of others in their de¬ 
votions, ought to remember that he is a debtor 
to the wise, as well as the unwise, to the 
learned as well as the illiterate; that there 
are numbers in every congregation, who, 
though they have no taste for piety, have 
some claim to literary culture; and, there¬ 
fore, that it is incumbent on him to be quali¬ 
fied to perform his work in such a manner 
as shall not be revolting to the most culti¬ 
vated of those whose mouth he is at the 
throne of grace. In this, as well as in every 
other part of spiritual service, it is important 
to “ find out acceptable words.” It is evi- 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


183 


dent, from a passage in a former chapter, 
that in the days of the learned and pious 
Augustine there were some, wdio, in their 
public prayers, fell into barbarisms and sole¬ 
cisms, in regard to which the venerable 
Father cautions those to whom he wrote, 
against being offended at such expressions, 
because God does not regard the language 
employed so much as the state of the heart, 
and he, at the same time, exhorts those who 
fell into,these faults, to employ the appro¬ 
priate means, which he prescribes, for avoid¬ 
ing them in future. 

IV. The want of regularity and order is a 
fault which frequently and greatly impairs 
the acceptable and edifying" character of 
public prayers. All public prayer which 
bears the comprehensive character which 
belongs to that exercise, is made up of vari¬ 
ous departments; such as adoration, confes¬ 
sion, thanksgiving, petition, and intercession. 
A public prayer which should be entirely 
destitute of any one of these departments, 
would be deemed essentially defective; and 
a prayer in which these several departments 
should all be so mixed up together through¬ 
out the whole as that they should all go on 


184 


THOUGHTS ON 


together in this state of confused mixture, 
from the beginning to the end, would, doubt¬ 
less, be considered as very ill judged and 
untasteful in its structure; nay, as adapted 
essentially to interfere with the edification of 
intelligent worshippers. Not that the same 
order should always be maintained. This 
would be a serious fault of an opposite kind. 
It is the absence of all order that is here 
meant to be censured, and represented as a 
fault. 

V. Descending to too much minuteness 
of detail in particular departments of prayer, 
is another fault of unhappy influence in this 
part of the public service. As a well con¬ 
ducted public prayer ought to consist of 
many parts, so it is evident that the undue 
protraction of any one or more of these parts, 
must of necessity lead either to inordinate 
length in the whole exercise, or to the omis¬ 
sion of other parts equally important. Not 
only so, but this minuteness of detail may be 
carried so far as to become revolting in itself 
to the mind of every intelligent worshipper. 
It is proper, no doubt, to return thanks to 
God for the fruits of the earth, especially on 
days set apart for public thanksgiving. But 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


185 


suppose the leader in such a service, instead 
of contenting himself with grateful general 
acknowledgments for the products of the 
soil, and a favourable and abundant harvest, 
furnishing food for man and beast, should 
think himself called upon to descend to such 
minuteness of detail as to specify by name 
all the various kinds of grain, and all the 
productions of the garden, the field and the 
meadow, specifying those which were deemed 
of most importance, and which had been 
yielded in the greatest abundance, would 
he be deemed wise and judicious? Would 
it not be much better to content himself 
with acknowledging the goodness of God in 
sending a fruitful season, and an abundant 
harvest, providing abundance of food for all 
who stood in need of it? In like manner, if 
a neighbourhood had been visited with se¬ 
vere and mortal sickness of various kinds, it 
surely would not be proper, in a prayer in 
which it was intended to acknowledge the 
righteous judgment of God in the case, and 
to humble ourselves under his mighty hand, 
to recount by name all the forms of disease 
which had proved distressing or fatal, refer¬ 
ring to the various proportions in which they 


186 


THOUGHTS ON 


had respectively prevailed. It would be 
quite enough to speak in general of prevail¬ 
ing sickness and mortality, to acknowledge 
the hand of God in the dispensation, to pray 
for the sanctified use of all his dealings, and 
to implore his sustaining and consoling grace 
for all those families which he had been 
pleased to bereave. I have sometimes known 
the dignified and solemn nature of the exer¬ 
cise greatly impaired by descending to par¬ 
ticulars to a degree bordering on the ludi¬ 
crous, and by no means favourable to pure 
and elevated devotion. I once knew a min¬ 
ister who, in making a prayer at the funeral 
of an aged patriarch, who left a large family 
of children, went over, by name, all the sons 
and daughters of the family, alluding graphi¬ 
cally to the character and situation of each, 
some being quite unfavourable. I also knew 
another, who, during our revolutionary war, 
in alluding, in a public prayer, to a sangui¬ 
nary battle which had been recently fought, 
gave a detailed account of the killed and 
wounded on both sides, and all the leading 
circumstances of the conflict. 

VI. Closely connected with this fault 
in public prayer is another, of which we 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


187 


often hear serious complaint. It is that of 
excessive length. This is so common and 
so crying a fault that it ought to be men¬ 
tioned with emphasis, and guarded against 
with special care. The state of the mind in 
right prayer is one of the most elevated and 
interesting in which it can be placed. Of 
course, such is the weakness of our facul¬ 
ties, and their tendency to flag, that an ex¬ 
ercise of this fervent and exalted character 
ought not to be long continued. The leader 
himself cannot always keep up the full tide 
of spiritual feeling, for any length of time 
together; and even if he could, those who 
unite with him in worship may not be al¬ 
ways equally successful. Hence, what is 
more common, in looking over our religious 
assemblies in time of prayer, than to see one 
half of the worshippers, after a short time, 
grow weary of the standing posture, and sit¬ 
ting down for relief? This may indeed be 
done, and often is done, without reason, and 
very improperly; but it is unhappy to fur¬ 
nish even a pretext for it. An ordinary 
prayer before sermon, ought not to exceed 
twelve, or at most fifteen minutes in length. 
All protraction of the exercise beyond that 


188 


THOUGHTS ON 


length does not help, but rather hinders de¬ 
votion. Some allowance indeed, as to this 
point ought to be made for days of special 
prayer, either of thanksgiving, or of humilia¬ 
tion and fasting; for as prayer ought to form 
a larger element than common in the exer¬ 
cises of such days, so, of course, more time 
for it ought to be allowed; so that, on such 
occasions, several minutes more may with 
propriety be added to the devotional parts of 
the service. But, after all allowance for 
extra cases, the excessive length of public 
prayers still remains a crying grievance: 
and it appears impossible in some cases to 
make the offenders sensible of their fault. 
It is not meant by this that the leader in 
public prayer should pray by the clock; 
but that he should, by habit, which any 
thinking observant man may easily form, 
learn to guard against that inconsiderate 
tediousness which soon banishes all devo¬ 
tion. The celebrated Mr. Whitefield, after 
being greatly fatigued wuth preaching one 
evening, requested the father of the family 
in whose house he lodged, to conduct the 
domestic worship before retiring to rest. 
The pious gentleman protracted his family 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


189 


prayer so inordinately that Mr. Whitefield, 
in the midst of it, rose from his knees, sat in 
his chair and groaned audibly; and when it 
was ended, he took his friend by the hand, and 
said with strong feeling, “Brother, how can 
you allow yourself to indulge such tedious¬ 
ness in your domestic devotions? You 
prayed me into a delightful frame of mind, 
and you prayed me completely out of it 
again.” 

VII. An abundant use of highly figura¬ 
tive language, is another blemish in public 
prayer, of which we sometimes find exam¬ 
ples. All studied refinement of language; 
all artificial structure of sentences; all affec¬ 
tation of the beauties of rhetoric, are out of 
place in the exercise of right prayer. Both 
evangelical solemnity, and good taste equally 
forbid them. Here many offend. Even the 
eloquent and evangelical Dr. Jay, of Bath, 
in England, in his published volume of 
prayers has not wholly avoided this fault. 
His devotional language in too many cases 
lacks the unaffected simplicity which ought 
to characterize it. It has too little of the 
language of Scripture. It is artificial, rhe¬ 
torical, elaborate, abounding unduly in or- 
17 


190 


THOUGHTS ON 


Hate and studied forms of speech, in point, 
antithesis and other rhetorical figures. This 
is often beautiful. Some greatly admire it 
and call it an eloquent prayer. But the fer¬ 
vent utterance of the heart is always simple. 
Here laboured rhetorical language is out of 
taste, and out of place. They are surely in 
great error, then, who seem to aim continu¬ 
ally to clothe their petitions in public in 
high sounding language, with elaborate in¬ 
genuity; who are constantly recurring to 
language drawn from the thunder, the 
earthquake, the ocean, the splendour of the 
solar beams, the mighty flood, the lofty 
mountain, &c., &c. I once knew an elo¬ 
quent and eminently popular preacher, who 
seemed to aim at concentrating in his 
prayers all the bold, high-sounding, sub¬ 
lime thoughts and figures which he could 
collect from the natural and moral worlds; 
so that he seemed to be ever upon a kind of 
descriptive stilts, and exerting himself to 
exhibit on every subject this rhetorical gran¬ 
deur. He succeeded in gaining the admira¬ 
tion of multitudes, but was not equally 
acceptable to the more simple-hearted and 
devout of those to whom he ministered. 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


191 


I have even known some preachers, not 
unfrequently, in public prayer to quote lines 
of poetry, and in a few cases, the greater 
part of a striking, beautiful stanza. To be 
very fond of making such quotations in ser¬ 
mons, is not in the best taste; but to do it in 
prayer, is certainly a much graver offence 
against the dictates of sound judgment. 

VIII. It is a serious fault in public prayer 
to introduce allusions to party politics, and 
especially to indulge in personalities. As 
the minister of the gospel who leads in pub¬ 
lic prayer is, as it wjere, the mouth of hun¬ 
dreds, and sometimes of thousands, in ad¬ 
dressing the throne of grace, he ought not, 
if he can consistently with duty avoid it, to 
introduce into this exercise any thing that 
has a tendency to agitate, to produce secular 
resentment, or unnecessary offence of any 
kind in the minds of any portion of the 
worshippers. In the house of God persons 
of all political, opinions may meet, harmo¬ 
niously and affectionately meet, provided 
they all agree in acknowdedging the same 
Saviour, and glorying in the same hope of 
Divine mercy. They may differ endlessly 
in their political creeds and wishes, and on a 


192 


THOUGHTS ON 


thousand other subjects, and yet assemble in 
the same temple, and gather round the same 
altar with fraternal affection, provided they 
are of one heart, and of one way in regard 
to the great system of salvation through the 
redemption that is in Christ. Why, then, 
should the feelings of brethren in Christ be 
invaded in their approaches to the throne of 
grace by unnecessary allusions to points in 
which the strongest worldly feelings are 
painfully embarked ? It is impolitic. I is 
cruel. It often presents a most serious ob¬ 
stacle to the success of the gospel. It has 
a thousand times produced distraction and 
division in churches before united, and con¬ 
strained many to separate themselves from 
their appropriate places of worship, and 
from all the means of grace. 

Having been myself betrayed in early life, 
on various occasions, into a course of con¬ 
duct in relation to this matter wdiich was 
afterwards regretted, I resolved, more than 
thirty years ago, never to allow myself, 
either in public prayer or preaching, to utter 
a syllable, in periods of great political excite¬ 
ment and party strife, that would enable any 
human being so much as to conjecture to 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


193 


which side in the political conflict I leaned. 
This has been my aim; and this is my judg¬ 
ment still: and this course, unless in very 
extraordinary cases, which must furnish a 
law for themselves, I would earnestly re¬ 
commend to every minister of the gospel. 
The more those who minister in holy things 
are abstracted from political conflicts, even 
in common conversation, and much more in 
their public work, the better. They have 
infinitely more important work to do than to 
lend their agency to the unhallowed conflicts 
of political partizans. “ Let the dead bury 
their dead.” 

No less unsuitable and unhappy is the 
influence of all personalities in public prayer. 
All praying at people; all recognition of the 
private scandal of the week in the devotions 
of the house of God; all allusions to the pri¬ 
vate injuries or griefs which he who offici¬ 
ates has recently received; all singling out 
conspicuous individuals in a neighbourhood, 
and holding them up to public view in our 
petitions, whether for commendation or cen¬ 
sure : every thing of this kind is improper 
in its nature and mischievous in its influ¬ 
ence—adapted to excite various unhallowed 
17 * 


194 


THOUGHTS ON 


feelings in the house of God, and to drive 
individuals from the sanctuary. 

On this subject I would say, that even 
when prayers are requested for the family, 
or in any respect for the benefit of persons 
who are supposed to be present in the assem¬ 
bly, we may go too much into detail—too far 
in holding them up personally to view, or 
indulging in language complimentary to 
their standing or importance in society. In 
regard to points of this sort it is always bet¬ 
ter to err on the side of reserve and brevity 
than the reverse. 

IX. All expressions of the amatory class 
ought to be sedulously avoided in the public 
devotions of the house of God. Those who 
lead in prayer are sometimes unhappily be¬ 
trayed into language of this kind. We 
sometimes, though not very frequently, hear 
those who are fervent and importunate in 
prayer, use such expressions as—“dear 
Jesus”—“sweet Jesus”—“lovely Saviour,” 
and various other terms of a similar class. 
All such language, though flowing from 
earnestness, and dictated by the best of mo¬ 
tives, is unhappy, and produces on the 
minds of the judicious painful impressions. 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


195 


X. The practice of indulging in wit , hu¬ 
mour, or sarcasm in public prayer, is highly 
objectionable, and ought never to be allowed. 
This, though not often, is sometimes wit¬ 
nessed, and, perhaps we may say, especially 
by men of powerful minds, and strong feel¬ 
ings, and who are accustomed, on that ac¬ 
count, to feel that they may “take liberties” 
in their public ministrations. A small speci¬ 
men of what is intended here will be suf¬ 
ficient. 

It being once intimated to a popular 
clergyman, who was strongly opposed to 
the administration of President Jefferson, 
that his omitting to pray for the president, 
in his public devotions had been remarked 
with regret, he came out on the following 
Sabbath, in his prayer, with a reference to 
the subject, in something like the following 
brief and pointed style :—“ Lord, look with 
thy favour upon our public rulers. Bless 
the President of the United States. Give 
him wisdom to discharge his important 
duties aright; for thou know^est he exceed- 
inglij needs it” Another popular preacher, 
eminently a man of wit, warmly opposed to 
the administration of the then President, on 


196 


THOUGHTS ON 


a day of public humiliation, fasting, and 
prayer to which the United States had been 
called by the President’s proclamation, ex¬ 
pressed himself in public prayer as follows: 
“ Almighty God, who sittest as governor 
among the nations, and who rulest over all! 
we have been called by our chief magistrate 
to humble ourselves before thee, and to ask 
for thy gracious interposition in our behalf; 
but thou knowest he has not called us to this 
duty, until by his unwise administration he 
had brought us into a condition which ren¬ 
ders aid from above peculiarly desirable 
and necessary; for vain is 4 the help of man.” 
One more example shall suffice. An excel¬ 
lent clergyman, of powerful mind and strong 
feelings, having been deeply impressed by a 
recent instance of parsimony on the part of 
a church toward her pastor, in consequence 
of which his health and comfort had been 
seriously impaired, prayed, at a church 
meeting, in the following strain:—“ Al¬ 
mighty King of Zion, guard and sustain 
thine own cause. Protect and strengthen 
thy ministering servants. Have mercy 
upon such of thy professing people as have 
no compassion on labourers in the gospel 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


197 


field, and who seem to be desirous of mak¬ 
ing the experiment whether they can most 
speedily destroy their lives by overworking 
or by starving them.” 

It is earnestly to be hoped that such exam¬ 
ples will not be considered as proper for imi¬ 
tation. If they be not profane in their spirit, 
they are certainly much more adapted to 
promote profane than devout feelings. I 
should expect a general smile to pervade an 
assembly on the utterance of such petitions. 
There are those who call praying in this 
style, fidelity; but it is often the product of 
a very different spirit, and will be generally 
avoided by those who wish to utter the 
truth with the “meekness of wisdom.” If 
any minister of the gospel has wit or sar¬ 
casm, or any thing of like character, on his 
mind, of which he wishes to be delivered, as 
a stroke at any person or cause, it is most 
earnestly to be desired that he will seek 
some other channel for giving it vent than 
the public prayers of the sanctuary. 

XI. The excellence of a public prayer 
may be marred by introducing into it a large 
portion of didactic statement, and, either in 
the language of Scripture, or any other lan- 


198 


THOUGHTS ON 


guage, laying down formal exhibitions of 
Christian doctrine. It will be seen, in the 
next chapter, that the devout recognition of 
fundamental doctrine in prayer is an excel¬ 
lence, and ought ever to make a part of it; 
but this ought always to be presented in a 
devotional form, and ought never to wear the 
aspect of a theological lecture addressed to 
Him who sits on a throne of grace. This 
fault, however, will be sufficiently guarded 
against in a future chapter. In the mean¬ 
while, it should be recognized as a real fault, 
and care taken to avoid every approach to it, 
that may be adapted to give pain to an intel¬ 
ligent worshipper. 

XII. Another fault nearly allied to this is 
worthy of notice. I have known a few per¬ 
sons who were not only in the habit of intro¬ 
ducing into their public prayers abundant 
didactic statement of doctrine; but who also 
seemed studious of introducing, with much 
point, those doctrines which are most offen¬ 
sive to the carnal heart, and which seldom 
fail to be revolting to our impenitent hearers. 
We Presbyterians profess to preach a sys¬ 
tem of doctrine, some of the parts of which, 
especially those which recognize the absolute 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


199 


sovereignty of God in the dispensation of his 
grace, all nnsanctified men of course hate, 
and which, whenever they are announced, 
excite uncomfortable feelings and opposition 
among the great mass of mankind. Still, 
we are bound to preach these doctrines, 
whether men will hear, or whether they will 
forbear. These doctrines were preached by 
the inspired Apostles. They were offensive 
to a great majority of those to whom they 
were delivered, and it is so to the present 
hour. Yet, we are not to preach them con¬ 
tinually, and to the exclusion of every thing 
else; but, as the Apostles did, in proper or¬ 
der, in proper connection, and in wise mea¬ 
sure. To be fond of introducing them in 
prayer, argues a mind not cast in the apos¬ 
tolic mould, and inordinately set on par¬ 
tial views of truth. 

XIII. Too great familiarity of language 
in addressing the High and Holy One, is also 
revolting to pious minds, and ought to be 
sacredly avoided. There are those who, on 
the principle of indulging in filial confidence, 
and a strong faith, address God as they 
would speak to an equal—claiming the ful¬ 
filment of his promises—insisting on the 


200 


THOUGHTS ON 


bestowment of what they wish—and, in 
short, employing, without scruple, the lan¬ 
guage of earthly and carnal urgency. This 
is not in accordance with that deep humility, 
that profound reverence, and solemn awe 
with which suppliants, conscious of un¬ 
worthiness, ought ever to approach the infi¬ 
nite majesty of heaven and earth. The 
filial, but humble confidence of a dutiful 
child, is one thing; the presumptuous fa¬ 
miliarity of one who thinks much more of 
his own wishes and will than of his deep 
unworthiness as a sinner, and of the infinite 
holiness and majesty of the Being to whom 
his prayer is addressed, is quite another. 
There is such a thing as appearing at home 
before the mercy-seat, and pleading with God 
with all the freedom and confidence of an 
affectionate child; and there is also such a 
thing as, under the guise of prayer, “ speak¬ 
ing unadvisedly with our lips,” and forget- 
ing that even the heavens are not clean in 
the sight of Him who sits on the throne of 
grace. 

XIV. Further; there is such a thing as 
expressing unseasonably , and also as carry¬ 
ing to an extreme the professions of humil- 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


201 


ity. The former is sometimes exemplified, 
by ministers of the gospel, in praying for 
themselves in the public assembly. Often 
have I heard ministers in leading the public 
devotions of the sanctuary, pray for divine 
assistance in preaching the word. This is 
very proper, and may be so expressed as to 
be at once delicate, acceptable and edifying. 
But suppose the petition on this subject to 
be expressed in some such manner as this, 
which I have actually and repeatedly heard: 
“ Lord, assist thy servant, one of the most 
weak and unworthy of men, a very child in 
spiritual things, in attempting to open and 
apply the Scriptures,” &c. And again, 
“Help him, in all his weakness and igno¬ 
rance, rightly to divide the word of truth, 
and to give to each a portion in due sea¬ 
son.” Such language might be altogether 
unexceptionable in secret prayer, in which, 
if the humble petitioner really and honestly 
made this estimate of himself, he might with 
great propriety express it before the Lord. 
But when he addresses God as the mouth of 
hundreds of worshippers, there is surely no 
propriety in putting into the mouths of all 
his fellow-suppliants, language concerning 
18 


202 


THOUGHTS ON 


himself which he would consider as indeli¬ 
cate and offensive if employed by one of 
them in praying for him. Suppose he 
should hear one of his elders or deacons 
pray for him in similar language, and say, 
“ Lord, help our minister in preaching for us 
to-day. Thou knowest that he is one of the 
weakest and most unworthy of men; thou 
knowest he is but a child in spiritual things, 
and needs thy help in the discharge of every 
duty.” Would he consider this as becoming 
language in the mouth of another concern¬ 
ing himself? How then can he reconcile it 
with propriety to put language into the 
mouths of hundreds concerning his own 
character which he would consider as un¬ 
suitable if uttered by any one of them? 
Whatever, then, any man might be willing 
to say of himself in his closet, let him never 
utter anything in prayer in the pulpit re¬ 
specting himself, which he would not be 
willing that any and every person should say 
of him in similar circumstances. 

In regard to expressions of extreme hu¬ 
mility in public prayer, we may also find 
examples. It is not common, indeed, nor is 
it easy to take a lower place before the mercy- 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


203 


seat than our demerit as sinners justifies. 
And yet I think language on this subject has 
sometimes been employed which a sound 
judgment and a correct taste ought to have 
forbidden. To exemplify my meaning. A 
warm hearted and eminently pious minister 
of our Church, on the occasion of a meeting 
of one of our Synods, when the Lord’s 
Supper was dispensed, and when it was cus¬ 
tomary in that ordinance, to employ a num¬ 
ber of successive tables; the first table being 
filled entirely with ministers; in the course 
of the prayer, setting apart the elements, he 
expressed himself thus: “ O Lord, thou 
knowest we are most unworthy. Thou 
knowest there was never gathered round a 
sacramental table a more polluted, unworthy 
set of sinners than those who are now seated 
before thee.” The good man undoubtedly 
meant to recognize the idea that to whom¬ 
soever much was given, of them should 
much be required; and that the sins of min¬ 
isters, in opposition to their light and their 
vows and obligations, were to be regarded as 
inferring more guilt than those of other men. 
But when he ventured to say in prayer, that 
no band of communicants was ever more 


204 


THOUGHTS ON 


corrupt and vile than those which surround¬ 
ed that table, the probability is that he went 
beyond the truth, and, with a good meaning, 
was chargeable with indulging in pious, cer¬ 
tainly in unseasonable extravagance. 

XV. Again; every thing approaching to 
flattery is a serious fault in public prayer, 
and ought to be carefully avoided. Flattery 
in any man and on any occasion is criminal. 
In the pulpit it is eminently so: but to con¬ 
vey anything like flattery in prayer, is un¬ 
doubtedly liable to still heavier censure. 
Yet, something nearly resembling this, not 
unfrequently occurs in the public devotions 
of the sanctuary. I refer to the language 
often employed in prayer after a brother in 
the ministry has preached, or performed 
some other equivalent service. That prayer 
is often employed as a vehicle of strong com¬ 
mendation, not to say flattery of the prece¬ 
ding preacher. It is by no means uncom¬ 
mon, in this part of the public service, for 
him w T ho performs it to express himself in 
some such language as the following : “We 
thank thee, O Lord, for the interesting, the 
solemn, and the truly scriptural discourse to 
which we have just listened;” or,—“We 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


205 


pray that the richly instructive, powerful 
and excellent discourse which thy servant 
has just given us, may sink down into our 
hearts.” And on some rare occasions, thanks 
are returned that “ such a burning and shining 
light has been raised up;” and a petition 
offered, “that he may shine with increasing 
lustre as he advances in years;” and that 
“ his departure, like the setting sun, may be 
serene and full of glory.” In short, with 
many preachers, the closing prayer, in all 
such cases is considered as furnishing a kind 
of theological thermometer, by which we 
may graduate the warmth or the coldness of 
the approbation felt for the sermon which 
has just closed. 

This ill judged and very exceptionable 
practice has become, with many preachers, 
so common, that if one should omit to con¬ 
vey, in some form, the usual compliment, he 
is by some considered as wanting in civility,' 
and as manifesting a want of respect to the 
preacher. And although persons of sound 
judgment and good taste generally avoid this 
impropriety; yet, as might be expected, the 
more injudicious and indiscreet are most apt 
to launch out in language of warm eulogy, 
18 * 


206 


THOUGHTS ON 


and, through this devotional medium, to pay 
compliments altogether unmerited, and if 
ever so much merited, altogether unseason¬ 
able. 

It would, indeed, be over fastidious to for¬ 
bid, in a closing prayer, any reference to a 
preceding preacher. To pray that the word 
as delivered by him may be accompanied with 
the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; that 
it may prove like good seed sown in good 
ground, and bring forth abundant fruit to the 
glory of God; and that the preacher may be 
graciously rewarded for his labour of love, 
and may see the work of the Lord prospering 
under his ministrations—may undoubtedly 
be allowed without offence, nay, without im¬ 
propriety. But nothing that savours of com¬ 
pliment, direct or indirect, either to the talents 
or the piety of the preacher, is, in any ordi¬ 
nary case, allowable. And certainly, it is in 
all cases, safest and best to err on the side of 
reserve and abstinence than of excess. 

There is a tradition that the following cir¬ 
cumstances once occured in the life of the 
elder President Edwards. He had engaged 
to preach on a certain Sabbath for a neigh¬ 
bouring pastor. When the day arrived, the 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


207 


pastor went to his pulpit at the appointed 
time, but did not find Mr. Edwards there. 
He waited as long as he thought proper, and 
Mr. Edwards still not appearing, he began 
the service. In the course of the prayer 
which usually precedes the sermon, Mr. Ed¬ 
wards, who had been retarded by an unex¬ 
pected occurrence, entered the church; and, 
being remarkably gentle and quiet in all his 
movements, he came into the house, made his 
way to the pulpit, and placed himself by the 
side of the pastor without being observed. 
The pastor, in his prayer, taking for granted 
that Mr. Edwards was still absent, had al¬ 
lowed himself to express regret that he had 
failed to come, and that the congregation was 
to be disappointed: He also launched out in 
expressions of profound respect for the talents, 
learning and piety of Mr. Edwards, thanking 
God that he had raised up so eminent an in¬ 
strument for doing good, and that he had been 
enabled to accomplish so much by his learned 
and able works; and praying that his im¬ 
portant life might be spared, and his use¬ 
fulness extended to the remotest parts of the 
land. At the close of his prayer, to his 
astonishment, he found Mr. Edwards stand- 


208 


THOUGHTS ON 


ing by his side, and ready to perform the 
service which had been expected of him. 
With some little embarrassment he said, 
“ Sir, I did not know that you were present; 
if I had known it, I should not have prayed as 
I did.” But feeling as if it might do good to 
throw into the scale something to balance his 
compliments, he added—“But after all, they 
do say that your wife has more piety than 
you.” 

XVI. The want of appropriateness , is an¬ 
other fault often chargeable on public prayer. 
In some rare cases, we find ministers who 
excel in this branch of the worship of the 
sanctuary, whose topics and language are all 
dictated by the occasion on which they offi¬ 
ciate. From beginning to end they are appro¬ 
priate. The intelligent fellow-worshipper 
recognizes a fitness, an adaptedness in every 
petition, and in every sentence. Without 
any apparent study or effort, every thing 
seems to be in keeping with the occasion 
which has brought them together, and the 
scene before them. This is a great excel¬ 
lence, and never fails to make a happy im¬ 
pression on pious and enlightened worship¬ 
pers. But with how many who officiate in 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


209 


public prayer is it far otherwise! If they are 
called to conduct this exercise on the first 
day of the year; on a day of humiliation and 
fasting, or of thanksgiving; at the visitation 
of a Sabbath School; at the opening of a 
judicatory of the Church; at the dispensation 
of a sacrament; or at the ordination of a minis¬ 
ter, the greater part of the petitions they utter 
would be equally applicable to any other 
service or occasion. Perhaps an eighth, or a 
tenth part only of what they utter can be con¬ 
sidered as applicable to the occasion before 
them, or as entirely seasonable. I once knew' 
a member of one of our Presbyteries, who, 
wdien called upon to make the ordaining 
prayer, at the solemnity of setting apart a 
minister to the sacred office, w 7 ent back to the 
beginning of time; traced the progress of 
civil and ecclesiastical society; alluded to the 
various plans of electing and ordaining the 
officers of the Church all along down through 
the patriarchal and ceremonial dispensations; 
and, at length, after tiring out every worship¬ 
per with the tediousness of his deduction, he 
came to the New Testament dispensation, 
and made about one-quarter part of his inor¬ 
dinately long prayer really adapted to the' 


210 


THOUGHTS ON 


occasion on which he was called to officiate. 
During a large part of the time occupied by 
this prayer he had his hands, as well as the 
hands of his fellow presbyters, pressing on 
the head of the candidate to the great discom¬ 
fort of all. 

I have heard it stated as a remarkable 
excellence in the late Doctor Emmons, of 
Massachusetts, that in all his public pray¬ 
ers he was so peculiarly appropriate, that, 
while he was richly various and judicious, 
every petition, from the first sentence to the 
last, was strictly adapted to the occasion on 
which he was called to preside. There is a 
singular beauty in this, and a direct ten¬ 
dency to increase the interest and the edifica¬ 
tion of the exercise; while the obvious 
effect of the opposite course is to exhaust the 
patience, and fatigue the attention before 
coming to that which really belongs to the 
occasion. 

XVII. Another fault in public prayer, 
which I have often observed and regretted, 
is, the apparent want of reverence wdth 
which it is frequently concluded. It is not 
easy intelligibly to describe this, in many 
cases. The thing referred to, is an air and 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


211 


manner, and especially a tone of voice, indi¬ 
cating not only a purpose and desire to close, 
but some degree of haste to be done, mani¬ 
fested by pronouncing the last sentence or 
two with more rapidity, in a less solemn 
tone, with less fervour and apparent ear¬ 
nestness than the preceding. Nay, I. have 
known some occupants of the pulpit, to all 
appearance, decisively pious, who, on clo¬ 
sing a solemn prayer of otherwise excellent 
character throughout, have not only uttered 
the last sentence in the hasty and irreverent 
manner just described, but they have been 
seen, while pronouncing the last sentence, 
stretching forth their hands and grasping 
the psalm book, that they might be ready, 
without the loss of a moment, to give out the 
psalm or hymn that followed. 

There is something not a little revolting 
in all this. Surely he who leads in a so¬ 
lemn prayer ought to be at least as seriously 
and earnestly engaged as any other indi¬ 
vidual in the sanctuary. But what would 
he think if the whole assembly, or any con¬ 
siderable portion of them, were observed to 
be engaged, during the last sentences of his 
prayer in adjusting their dress, or in putting 


212 


THOUGHTS ON 


in their appropriate places all the fixtures 
around them? Surely such a sight would 
fill him with disgust, and would call forth a 
pointed rebuke. Of all persons present, the 
officiating minister ought to manifest the 
most exemplary sincerity and earnestness in 
uttering every sentence of his own devo¬ 
tions, and, to the last word, to exhibit an 
attention fixed, a solemnity undiminished 
and complete. 

XVIII. The last fault in public prayer 
that will be here mentioned, is that ra¬ 
pidity and vehemence of utterance, which are 
sometimes affected as an expression of 
deep feeling, and ardent importunity. This 
rapidity is oftentimes carried so far as to 
be inconsistent with that calm reverence 
which is essential in all addresses to the in¬ 
finitely exalted object of prayer. Here no¬ 
thing hasty, nothing rash, nothing which 
has not been considered and weighed, ought 
ever to escape from the lips of him who 
leads others to the throne of grace. There 
is hardly any thing more attractive and im¬ 
pressive in this exercise than the appearance 
of a sanctified intelligence, as well as a 
warm heart, dictating and accompanying 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


213 


every petition; when there is an opportunity 
given for him who leads, as well as for him 
who follows, to reflect well on what is ut¬ 
tered ; to begin no sentence without forecast¬ 
ing its import and its conclusion; and thus 
to avoid that sudden embarrassment which 
is often the result of inconsiderate haste. 
How revolting to hear him who is the 
mouth, perhaps, of hundreds, in addressing 
the High and Holy One, pouring out his 
petitions with such vehemence, such ex¬ 
treme rapidity, such a blast of voice, as to 
give those who are listening to him no 
opportunity to ponder in their hearts what 
he is saying, and to unite in heart with 
him! He who gives himself up to this kind 
of headlong speed of manner, will often fail 
of carrying along with him the intelligent 
concurrence of his fellow worshippers, and 
will be apt to stumble in his hasty progress, 
from not having well considered what he is 
about to say. Words “few,” “well con¬ 
sidered,” and “well ordered,” are the in¬ 
spired characteristics of a good prayer. 

In fact, in this exercise the whole manner 
is important and worthy of being sacredly 
regarded. Here, all unnecessary vocifera- 
19 


214 


THOUGHTS ON 


tion; all stern, ostentatious, disrespectful, 
dictatorial tones of voice ; every thing not in 
keeping with that modest, humble, filial 
spirit which becomes a suppliant conscious 
of deep unworthiness, and pleading for 
mercy, ought to be carefully avoided; nay, a 
right frame of mind will ever spontaneously 
lead to their avoidance. 

I once knew a young minister who, in 
common conversation, was remarkably gen¬ 
tle and deliberate; and in preaching rather 
below than above par in ardour and anima¬ 
tion; but who, as soon as he commenced 
the exercise of prayer, became rapid, im¬ 
petuous, and even boisterous. The conse¬ 
quence was, that he hurried on at a rate 
which prevented many from keeping up 
with him ; that he began sentences without 
foreseeing how they were to end; that he 
stumbled and blundered, and sometimes ex¬ 
cited the disgust rather than the devotion of 
* the assembly. 

I am sensible that, while I have given this 
formidable list of faults which frequently 
occur in public extempore prayer, it would 
be an easy thing to present an equally ex¬ 
tended array of faults which I have heard 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


215 


of, or observed on the part of those who 
recited liturgies. The truth is, where good 
sense, good taste, and fervent piety are not 
in exercise, no public office of devotion can 
be really well performed. But it is no part 
of my plan to turn other denominations into 
ridicule, or to dwell on the faults of our 
neighbours. This would give me no plea¬ 
sure. Nor would it in the least degree miti¬ 
gate my pain in contemplating the faults 
which exist among ourselves. I submit to 
the pain of mentioning the faults which 
sometimes occur in our own beloved church, 
if haply I may minister to their removal, or 
the diminution of their number. God for¬ 
bid that I should ever intrude into another 
Christian denomination for the sake of 
wounding feelings. I would* much rather 
look at home, and “ cast the beam out of our 
own eye,” that we may “see clearly to cast 
the mote out of our brother’s eye.” 


216 


CHAPTER Y. 

CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD PUBLIC PRAYER. 

On this subject the enlightened and pious 
heart is the best human guide. Yet even 
piety, however ardent, and talent and know¬ 
ledge, however mature, may not be above 
the need, or beyond the reach of some gene¬ 
ral counsels which experience may suggest. 
An attempt will be made to offer a few sug¬ 
gestions, which, however superfluous with 
regard to many, may not be so in respect to 
all. And here I shall, of course, omit many 
of those characteristics of a good prayer 
which are to be taken for granted as always 
indispensable—as that it be sincere—that it 
be offered in faith—in the name of Christ— 
with deep humility—with firm reliance on 
the Saviour—with submission—with confi¬ 
dence in a pardoning God, &c. All these 
are to be taken for granted as essential in 
every acceptable prayer. But some conside¬ 
rations which are apt to be forgotten claim 
our special notice, and occupy, in my judg- 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


217 


ment, an important place in the list of coun¬ 
sels. And, 

I. One of the most essential excellencies 
in public prayer, and that which I feel con¬ 
strained first of all, and above all to recom¬ 
mend, is, that it abound in the language of 
the word of God. 

This characteristic in all social addresses 
to the throne of grace is recommended by a 
variety of considerations. 

(1.) This language is always right, always 
safe, and always edifying. Whatever doubts 
we may have concerning other language, in 
regard to this there can be none. It silences 
all objection, terminates all cavil. 

(2.) There is in the language of the sacred 
Scriptures a simplicity, a tenderness, a touch¬ 
ing eloquence peculiarly adapted to engage 
and impress the heart. Among all the stores 
of human diction, there is nothing so well 
fitted to take hold of the mind as that which 
we have been accustomed from our infancy 
to read in the inspired pages, and, by associa¬ 
tion, to connect with all that is solemn in 
eternal things, and with all that is interest¬ 
ing in the hopes of the soul. Even worldly 
men, of mere literary taste, have agreed in 
19 * 


218 


THOUGHTS ON 


pronouncing the Bible to be the great store¬ 
house of that language which is better adapt¬ 
ed than any other to impress the popular 
mind, and to take hoM of the best feelings of 
the soul. 

(3.) It has been often suggested by the 
advocates of liturgies, that it is not easy for 
them to follow a leader in extemporary 
prayer, because they cannot know the full 
extent of any petition until the sentence em¬ 
bracing it is completed; so that they are 
constantly held, they tell us, in a kind of 
suspense, until each successive sentence is 
terminated, uncertain whether they can make 
the prayer their own until each part of it, in 
succession, is fully uttered. I have known 
some warm friends of prescribed forms of 
prayer, who acknowledged that this difficulty 
was much diminished, and, indeed, in a great 
measure removed, when they became accus¬ 
tomed to extemporaneous prayer: but still 
they complained of it as, for a time, a real 
inconvenience. Now this objection would 
have no place, or, at least, none worth men¬ 
tioning, if the leader in public prayer made 
a point of deriving a large part of his peti¬ 
tions and his general diction from the word 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


219 


of God. He would carry with him in every 
successive sentence, the unhesitating concur¬ 
rence, and the entire approbation of every 
fellow-worshipper. Nay, the concurrence 
and the approbation would be yielded in ad¬ 
vance the moment the well known language, 
the beloved and venerated phraseology of the 
sacred oracles sounded in the ear. 

On these accounts it is, that many judi¬ 
cious Christians lament the absence of this 
feature in not a few of the prayers of some 
modern preachers, otherwise of no small ex¬ 
cellence. Where the mind of the minister 
is deeply imbued with the language and 
spirit of the word of God, there is, surely, no 
occasion in which this ought to be more 
manifest, and more richly and tenderly em¬ 
ployed, than in his acts of devotion; and 
where it is thus manifested, there is nothing 
more calculated to fall with pleasure and 
with profit both on the ear and the heart of 
every intelligent hearer. 

But in incorporating the language of Scrip¬ 
ture with our public prayers, there may be 
great and unhappy mistakes in various ways. 
It is not every part even of the Bible, that is 
well suited to be repeated in addressing the 


220 


THOUGHTS ON 


throne of grace. Passages of Scripture not 
at all devotional in their form, but rather 
didactic or historical, may be, and often have 
been incorporated with prayer, in such a 
manner as to disturb and not aid the feelings 
appropriate to that exercise. A minister 
called to officiate at an ordination, quoted in 
his prayer that passage which is found in 
1 Tim. iii. 1—4: “ This is a true saying, if 
a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth 
a good work. A bishop, then, must be 
[ blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, 
sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, 
apt to teach; not given to wine; no striker, 
not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient; not 
a brawler, not covetous; one that ruleth well 
his own house, having his children in sub¬ 
jection with all gravity.” Thus he went on, 
quoting the simple didactic passage, without 
any attempt to throw the substance of it, as, 
with a little ingenuity, he might have done, 
into a devotional form; and seemed to think 
j he had done well because he employed the 
language of the Bible. 

In like manner, another, in his public 
prayer introduced the last two verses of Ro¬ 
mans ii. thus: “ For he is not a Jew which 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


221 


is one outwardly; neither is that circum¬ 
cision which is outward in the flesh ; but he 
is a Jew which is one’inwardly; and circum¬ 
cision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and 
not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, 
but of God.” 

This is what many have called “preaching 
in prayer.” And, truly, this quaint title is 
by no means inapplicable. 

But there may be, and sometimes has been 
a still more revolting use of the language of 
Scripture in prayer. I refer to cases in 
which passages of the word of God bordering 
on the ludicrous, or the indelicate, have been 
unscrupulously incorporated with the exer¬ 
cise of public prayer. I once knew an ex¬ 
cellent man, of fervent piety, and of strong 
good sense, whom I have heard, not once only, 
but many times, in deploring the torpor and 
unfruitfulness of the church, and praying for 
a revival of religion, to say, in allusion to the 
tree planted in a vineyard, which brought 
forth no fruit—“ Lord, we deserve thy right¬ 
eous judgments; we bring forth no fruit as 
we ought—but O let us not be deprived of 
the privileges which we have so criminally 
failed of improving—cut us not down; but 


222 


THOUGHTS ON 


dig about us, dung us , and make us to bring 
forth fruit to the glory of thy holy name.” 

Another, equally unscrupulous, provided 
he used the language of Scripture, did not 
hesitate to quote in his prayer the expression 
of the Psalmist, in the seventy-third Psalm. 
“ They that are far from thee shall perish. 
Thou wilt destroy all them that go a whoring 
from thee.” Surely we are not driven by 
any scarcity of more eligible texts, to select 
these for incorporating with our devotional 
addresses to the Majesty of Heaven. The 
Bible is so full of passages, not only rich and 
appropriate in their spiritual meaning, but 
also directly and tenderly devotional in their 
whole scope and structure, that it appears to 
be a strange taste indeed, that would fasten 
on portions of the inspired volume, which, 
though inserted by holy men as they were 
moved by the Holy Ghost, and strictly in 
place as a part of the sacred narrative, are by 
no means adapted to edify a mixed assembly 
in the devotions of the pulpit. 

Again: language found in Scripture may 
not be entirely adapted to modern use, be¬ 
cause founded on topography, or usages no 
longer intelligible to common minds. Minis- 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


223 


ters, in praying for the spread of the gospel, 
have often been heard to quote or allude to a 
passage in Zechariah ix. 10. May his do¬ 
minion extend “from sea to sea, and from 
the river to the ends of the earth.” In adopt¬ 
ing this quotation, what river is meant? To 
an inhabitant of Palestine, three thousand 
years ago, it was, no doubt, intelligible and 
significant; but what distinct idea does it con¬ 
vey to a worshipper in Great Britain or the 
United States? So the passage which oc¬ 
curs in Psalm cxxi. 1: “I will lift up my 
eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my 
help,” is not unfrequently repeated in prayer. 
But what is the idea which it conveys to 
common minds? Jerusalem was built upon 
a mountain, and Judea was a mountainous 
country, and the Jews, in their several dis¬ 
persions, turned towards Jerusalem when 
they offered up their prayers to God. But no 
such idea is conveyed to the popular ear 
among us, when this Scripture is quoted. 

I once knew an excellent minister, long 
since deceased, who appeared to me to judge 
erroneously on this subject in another way, 
less exceptionable, indeed, but worthy of no¬ 
tice. His prayer always consisted purely of 


224 


THOUGHTS ON 


passages of Scripture strung together, with¬ 
out any thing of his own. In fact it was, 
almost without exception, from beginning to 
end, an uninterrupted chain of Scripture 
texts, without any other links than those 
which the texts themselves formed. This 
looked so much like the studied utterance of 
the memory rather than of the heart, that I 
remember to have listened to him, and united 
with him, with less pleasure than with others, 
who were not so much the mere repeaters of 
texts of Scripture from the beginning to the 
end of their prayers; as constantly guided 
by the spirit of the Bible, and referring 
abundantly to its diction, but not entirely or 
servilely confined to either. This easy, natu¬ 
ral, unstudied mode of employing Scripture 
in public prayer, is adapted to please and 
edify all, without exciting the idea of study 
or formality in any. 

II. Another excellence of a good public 
prayer is, that it be orderly. That is, that it 
have a real and perceptible order. Not that 
it be characterized by formality; not that it 
be always in the same order; but still that 
its several parts of adoration, confession, 
thanksgiving, petition and intercession, should 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


225 


not be jumbled together in careless, incon¬ 
siderate mixture; but made to succeed each 
other in some happy arrangement. A fault 
in regard to this point was noticed at some 
length in a preceding chapter. But some 
reference to the positive advantages resulting 
from a proper attention to it, may not be out 
of place here. 

Regular order has a good effect on him 
who leads in prayer. It presents regular 
landmarks, which assist his memory, and 
prevent the omission of any important part 
of the exercise. It furnishes a very essential 
element in enabling him to judge of the 
length of his prayers; and it diffuses a kind 
of light over his whole progress in the duty, 
which cannot fail to exert a happy influence 
on his own mind. 

A good and tasteful order in prayer has 
also a tendency to operate favourably on the 
minds of all the worshippers who join in it. 
When the leader mingles together all the 
several parts of prayer, so that his fellow- 
worshippers are constantly interrupted by 
his passing from one to another without 
warning, and without order, it breaks in on 
the flow of appropriate feeling; so that when 
20 


226 


THOUGHTS ON 


the mind is in some measure prepared to 
indulge in a devout flow of feeling, some¬ 
thing comes in to change the current, before 
it has time to take effect, and make the 
appropriate and profitable impression. This 
cannot fail of producing an effect equally 
unfriendly to comfort and to edification. 

An adherence to order in prayer is like¬ 
wise favourable, as before hinted, to the 
proper length of the exercise. Where no 
arrangement is adopted; where the several 
topics are regulated by no plan of succession; 
the leader has less perception, than if it were 
otherwise, of the passage of time. He lacks 
one of the best means of judging of the 
length of his own prayers, and is more apt, 
on that account, to be insensible of the pro¬ 
gress of time, and to become uncomfortably 
tedious. 

But this counsel will be greatly misappre¬ 
hended, if it be supposed that the same 
order ought always to be observed. This 
would lead to objectionable formality. It is, 
doubtless, better continually to vary the or¬ 
der, and thus to relieve the minds of the 
worshippers from the tedium of constant 
sameness. Sometimes confession of sin and 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


227 


unworthiness may, with propriety, hold the 
first place in this exercise. At other times, 
it may be proper to begin with thanksgiving; 
and in like manner to diversify the order of 
the other departments of prayer. In early 
life it was my privilege often to be a witness 
of the ministrations in the pulpit of the late 
President Dwight, whose learning, piety and 
taste were so conspicuous in the estimation 
of all who knew him. His public prayers 
were uncommonly rich, copious, and inter¬ 
esting. But he continually altered their 
arrangement; and confined himself to no 
one order. I have known him, when he 
officiated more than once in the same pulpit 
on the same day, not only to diversify, with 
unlimited freedom, the order of his topics, 
but also to pass by some of them, at one 
time, wdth slight notice, and, at another, to 
dwell upon them much more in detail. I 
remember to have observed, on one occasion, 
that he in a great measure omitted in his 
prayer, in the forenoon, that part usually 
called intercession, which, in the afternoon, 
shortening other parts to accommodate his 
purpose, he took up and enlarged upon, in a 
very striking and edifying manner. And 


228 


THOUGHTS ON 


there can be no doubt, that a sound judg¬ 
ment and good taste will often dictate, when 
we are called to officiate in prayer on special 
occasions, that w T e are not only at liberty, 
but required by every principle of seasonable 
propriety, to vary our order, and while we 
shorten or omit some parts, enlarge on 
others, to which the occasion may seem spe¬ 
cially to call our attention. 

III. A suitable prayer in the public as¬ 
sembly is dignified and general in its plan, 
and comprehensive in its requests, without 
descending to too much detail. This, was 
noticed in a preceding chapter, but is worthy 
of a repeated suggestion. In secret prayer 
there is no objection to the most minute 
particularity. When alone with God, we 
may without impropriety, dwell with un¬ 
limited enlargement and importunity on 
whatever occupies our hearts, or is deemed 
desirable for our interest. We find exam¬ 
ples in Scripture of pious people spending 
hours together in importunate prayer for 
special mercies. But in public prayer, as the 
exercise ought not to be protracted, in ordi¬ 
nary cases, as before remarked, beyond the 
space of twelve, or at most, fifteen minutes, 


PUBLIC TRAYER. 


229 


so our topics ought to be of that general 
character which may be considered as appli¬ 
cable to the w r hole assembly. Particularity 
may be carried so far as not to meet the 
feelings of the mass of the worshippers, and 
sometimes to an extreme, as hinted in a 
former chapter, which borders on the ludi¬ 
crous. Every thing of this kind ought to be 
avoided ; and w 7 hile that false dignity which 
aims at stately and formal generalities alone, 
ought never to be indulged ; yet the opposite 
extreme is by no means adapted to minister 
to the edification of intelligent Christians. 

IV. A good public prayer should be care¬ 
fully guarded, in all its parts, against undue 
prolixity. The fault of excessive length in 
this part of the public service has been so 
emphatically censured in the preceding 
chapter, that there is the less need of en¬ 
larging directly on this point in the present 
connection. But it has sometimes escaped 
notice that one of the most essential means 
of avoiding excessive length, is not only to 
avoid multiplying topics unnecessarily and 
excessively, but also to avoid undue enlarge¬ 
ment on the topics which are selected as the 
subiects of petition. A fault here is exceed- 
20 * 


230 


THOUGHTS ON 


ingly common. Many a prayer has been 
unhappily protracted by not only selecting 
too many topics, but also by indulging in 
inexpedient dilation and diffuseness on the 
several topics. There is often an incon¬ 
siderate and ill-judged profusion of words, 
and substantial if not verbal repetition in 
Ibis exercise which ought to be avoided. It 
is in prayer especially important that our 
words be “few,” as well as “well ordered.” 

It is not meant, indeed, to be denied that 
on special occasions, those parts of a prayer 
which are appropriate to the occasion may 
be, and ought to be more extended than the 
rest. But then, in order to avoid transcend¬ 
ing due limits as to time, the other parts 
ought, in all such cases, to be proportionally 
shortened, that the whole may not become 
too long. It is really worth some manage¬ 
ment and pains to avoid that fatiguing pro¬ 
lixity which is so often found to interfere 
with edification. 

It is no excuse, as many seem to think, for 
excessive length in prayer, that they cannot, 
in a shorter time embrace every object of 
which they wish to take notice. This is 
apologizing for one fault by pleading for the 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


231 


necessity of another. It is better to pass 
over some topics in a cursory manner, or to 
omit them altogether, rather than to induce 
weariness in a single pious worshipper. 
There is no more need of including every 
thing that is appropriate and desirable in the 
same prayer, than there is of embracing 
every thing that belongs to a given text in 
the same sermon. If we yielded, in the 
latter case, instead of spending thirty-five or 
forty minutes in our ordinary discourses, we 
should seldom be able to get through in less 
than two hours. The fact is, it ought to be 
our aim in prayer, as well as in preaching, to 
leave off before weariness approaches, and in 
that full tide of elevated feeling which be¬ 
comes the later as well as the earlier stages 
of that solemn exercise. The venerable and 
learned Cotton Mather speaks of it as a great 
accomplishment in a young preacher, more 
than a century ago, that he could pray a 
whole hour in public without the least repe¬ 
tition. I trust no one whose eye meets this 
page will be inclined to emulate such an 
accomplishment. 

V. Another excellence of a public prayer 
is, that it be seasonable , and appropriate to 


232 


THOUGHTS ON 


the occasion on which it is uttered. There 
is a great beauty in this, and a happy im¬ 
pression resulting from it whenever it occurs. 
The prayers recorded in Scripture, for the 
most part, bear this character in a very strik¬ 
ing manner. Almost all of them are, from 
beginning to end, strictly appropriate, and 
would not have been really suitable on any 
other occasions than those on which they 
were actually delivered. There is some¬ 
thing very trying to the judgment, as well as 
the patience of the intelligent worshipper, 
when he who leads in prayer has a long, 
preliminary, and inapplicable series of topics 
on which he dwells to the point of weariness, 
before he comes to those which belong to the 
occasion on which he officiates. This is 
exceedingly unwise. Whether it be done 
in the pulpit, in the missionary meeting, in 
administering a sacrament, in the Sabbath- 
school, or in the sick room, it is ill-judged 
and unhappy in its influence. 

Another important advantage of an adhe¬ 
rence to perfect appropriateness in public 
prayer is, that it is one of the best means of 
guarding against excessive and unseasonable 
length. Almost all the undue prolixity 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


233 


which we observe and lament in this exer¬ 
cise, is referable to a defect here. When he 
who leads in prayer does not confine himself 
to that which belongs to the occasion on 
which he officiates, he is liable to be borne 
away by his feelings, or by his want of self- 
possession, into any extent of irrelevant mat¬ 
ter, and, of course, may be betrayed, before 
he is aware, into the most undesirable tedi¬ 
ousness ; whereas he who carefully adheres 
to that which is appropriate to the occasion, 
will find himself furnished with the best of 
all guards against every indulgence in tedi¬ 
ous prolixity. 

VI. It is an important excellence in a 
public prayer, that it include the recognition 
of so much gospel truth , as to be richly in¬ 
structive to all who join in it, as well as all 
who listen to it. Truth is the food of the soul. 
Gospel truth is that on which the Christian 
lives and grows from day to day. And, 
although it is rather the design of preaching 
than of prayer to convey didactic instruction 
to our hearers; and although, as stated in 
a preceding chapter, the practice of “ preach¬ 
ing in prayer” is really a serious fault, and 
ought to be sacredly avoided, yet it cannot 


234 


THOUGHTS ON 


have escaped the notice of any intelligent 
attendant on the service of the sanctuary, 
that much doctrinal instruction may be and 
is continually incorporated with almost all 
the public prayers recorded in the sacred 
volume. Who does not see that, in all those 
prayers, the great doctrines of our entire de¬ 
pendence on God; our utter unworthiness of 
his favour'; our apostasy and corruption as 
children of the first Adam; our recovery by 
the incarnation and atoning sacrifice of the 
second Adam, the Lord from heaven; the 
necessity of our renewal by the Holy Spirit, 
and of our justification by the imputed right¬ 
eousness of Christ, and our entire indebted¬ 
ness to his grace for every holy desire and 
action: who, I say, does not know that all 
these doctrines are directly or indirectly im¬ 
plied, and shine forth in many of the devo¬ 
tional compositions found in the sacred 
pages? And who does not know that when 
we arise to address the throne of grace, as 
the mouth of few or of many, we have not 
only the fairest opportunity of directing the 
minds of our fellow-worshippers to these 
great truths, and of endeavouring to fasten 
their attention upon them as the life of the 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


235 


soul; but that they must, if we would pray 
aright, be devoutly interwoven through all 
our addresses to the God of mercy? Nay, I 
have sometimes thought that if a wise phy¬ 
sician of the soul were searching for the 
most insinuating and impressive medium 
through which to address either a Christian 
or a worldly man, on the great truths of the 
gospel, he could seldom find any so well 
adapted to his purpose as wise, discrimina¬ 
ting, tender prayer; a prayer comprehend¬ 
ing thought, and a seasonable, pointed, forci¬ 
ble exhibition of truth. We are told that 
Mr. Whitefield often conveyed to his hearers, 
of various characters, through the medium 
of happily directed prayer, alternately the 
most tender and affectionate counsel, the 
most withering rebuke, and the most pointed 
instruction that ever escaped his lips. 

Of course, in public and social prayer, 
Christian doctrine is rather implied and inti¬ 
mated than directly and formally laid down. 
Yet nothing can be plainer than that a skil¬ 
ful conductor of public devotion has one of 
the very best opportunities for inculcating 
divine truth, in the most touching and im¬ 
pressive of all connections. It is a great 


236 


THOUGHTS ON 


part of practical wisdom, then, in those who 
are called to preside in prayer, either with 
the sick or the well; either in the private 
circle, or the public assembly—to introduce 
as much precious truth into their prayers as 
they possibly can without falling into a di¬ 
dactic strain; as much as is consistent with 
that simple, filial, suppliant character which 
ought to pervade all our devotional exercises. 

VII. Another important feature of great 
excellence in public prayer, is a desirable 
degree of variety. We object to being 
confined to prescribed forms of prayer, be¬ 
cause they lay us under the necessity of 
repeating not only the same topics, but also 
the same words in public devotions from 
year to year. But I have known Presbyte¬ 
rian ministers whose public prayers were so 
much alike for years together, that one of 
their fellow-worshippers long accustomed to 
their ministrations, might with confidence 
go before them every Sabbath, and antici¬ 
pate all that they had to utter in this exer¬ 
cise. This is a great evil, so entirely at 
variance with our professed principles, so 
much adapted in our view, to interfere with 
edification, and so adverse to continued at- 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


237 


tention on the part of those who worship 
with us, that it surely deserves the attention 
of all who are called to preside in this im¬ 
portant part of the public service. Truly it 
is with an ill grace that some of our minis¬ 
ters find fault with the sameness of liturgies, 
when their own prayers have as much of 
this quality as any that we hear read, with 
the disadvantage of being decidedly inferior 
both in matter and manner. 

But the study of variety may be carried to 
an extreme. I once heard of a minister of 
our church so scrupulously careful as to this 
point, that he resolved never, if he could pos¬ 
sibly avoid it, to utter a second time, a single 
sentence that he had ever before uttered. 
This was, no doubt, an extravagant zeal for 
variety, and adapted to beget a censurable 
scrupulosity, rather than a truly devout spi¬ 
rit. But while we fly from this unprofitable 
extreme, it is surely worth while to take 
appropriate pains to attain that happy varie¬ 
ty, which can only be acquired by taking 
measures to bring out of our treasure, in this 
respect, as well as in preaching, “ things 
new and old.” 

VIII. Almost all ministers close their 
21 


238 


THOUGHTS ON 


prayers with a doxology, copied more or less 
closely, from the sacred oracles. This is a 
plain dictate of Christian principle, and 
directly warranted by revealed examples. 
But are ministers as careful as the Bible is 
to vary these doxologies ? It strikes me that 
there is a great beauty in doing so, and that 
it is greatly adapted to gratify the pious 
heart. Sometimes the closing doxology in 
prayer is repeated thus: “To the Father, to 
the Son, and to the Holy Ghost be glory 
forever. Amen! 7 ’ Sometimes thus: “Now 
unto Him that is able to keep us from falling, 
and to present us faultless before the presence 
of his glory with exceeding joy: to the only 
wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, 
dominion and power, both now and ever. 
Amen!” And sometimes: “To God the 
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, be all honour 
and glory now and ever! Amen!” It would 
minister, it seems to me, to an increase of 
interest in our public prayers, if these and 
other various forms were adopted more fre¬ 
quently than they are. They might be 
alternated and applied in a manner adapted 
to rouse the feelings, and warm the hearts of 
worshippers who are less impressed by the 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


239 


constant use of only one doxology. I have 
often doubted whether, with regard to this 
point, a sufficiently rousing and animating 
variety is habitually consulted. I once 
heard of a minister who, in a time of 
revival, when his own heart, as well as 
the hearts of his hearers were unusually 
warmed with the power of the Holy Spirit, 
closed a prayer in the midst of the revival, 
wfith great acceptance, and with strong 
impression, in the words of the Psalmist, 
(Psalm lxxii. 18, 19:) “Blessed be the 
Lord God, the God of Israel, who only doeth 
wondrous things; and blessed be his glori¬ 
ous name for ever; and let the whole earth 
be filled with his glory. Amen! and Amen!” 
The effect was electric in suddenness, and 
most happy. 

IX. A good public prayer ought always 
to include a strongly marked reference to 
the spread of the gospel , and earnest peti¬ 
tions for the success of the means employed 
by the Church for that purpose. As it 
forms a large part of the duty of the Church 
to spread the knowledge of the way of salva¬ 
tion to all around her, and to send it, to the 
utmost of her power, to all within her reach 


240 


THOUGHTS ON 


who are destitute of it; so she ought never 
to assemble without recognizing this obliga¬ 
tion, and fervently praying for grace and 
strength to fulfil it. So prominent an object 
in the Church’s duty ought, undoubtedly, 
to form an equally prominent object in her 
desires and prayers. Were petitions on this 
subject made to occupy the place, and to 
wear the aspect which they ought to do, it 
would tend to keep this great duty con¬ 
stantly before the mind of the pastor him¬ 
self, and before the minds of all his people, 
in something of its appropriate and solemn 
character. That duty w r hich was thus 
solemnly acknowledged and prayed over 
every Sabbath, could hardly fail to occupy 
the attention and to impress the hearts of 
those who adhere to this practice. We sel¬ 
dom, indeed, hear a public prayer which 
wholly omits all reference to the spread of 
the gospel. But O how often is the refer¬ 
ence to it the most cursory and chilling 
imaginable; without point, without appa¬ 
rent engagedness; neither manifesting in¬ 
terest on the part of the minister, nor adapted 
to beget interest in his fellow-worshippers! 
No wonder that in churches in which this 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


241 


is the character of the public prayers we 
hear of few and stinted contributions to the 
great missionary cause. If this cause were 
carried into the pulpit every Lord’s day, 
and there presented before the Lord in the 
distinct, solemn and touching manner which 
its importance demands, we surely should 
not find so many of the churches on our roll 
so entirely delinquent in regard to this duty, 
as our records annually disclose. 

X. Another consideration worthy of notice 
here is the manner in which the Most High 
is addressed in different parts of public 
prayer. It is common for those who offi¬ 
ciate in this solemn exercise, to adopt some 
one title of God, which they carry, for the 
most part, through the whole prayer. 
Whether it be that of “ Almighty God,” or 
“ Heavenly Father,” or any other favourite 
title, it is repeated and hackneyed, whatever 
may be the burden of the confession, the 
grateful acknowledgment, or the importu¬ 
nate petition. How much more appropriate, 
and in accordance with a spiritual taste, 
would it be, frequently to alter this title, as 
we pass from one part of prayer to another, 
adverting all along to the extent, the di- 
21 * 


242 


THOUGHTS ON 


versity, and the glory of the Divine attri¬ 
butes ! Thus, suppose a prayer for the 
revival, the prosperity, and the enlargement 
of the Church, were prefaced with the fol¬ 
lowing appeal—O thou Sovereign King of 
Zion, who hast purchased her with thine 
own blood, and hast given to her “ exceed¬ 
ing great and precious promises/’ look upon 
thine own feeble, struggling Church in 
mercy. Wilt thou not “ revive her, that thy 
people may rejoice in thee?” Wilt thou not 
lift her from the dust, and clothe her in 
beauty, “ through thine own comeliness put 
upon her ?” Wilt thou not cause her, amidst 
all her darkness, to look forth “ clear as the 
sun, fair as the moon, and terrible as an 
army with banners?” 

Again; suppose prayer were about to be 
made for the dispersion of popular igno¬ 
rance, and the diffusion of the light of 
science, and above all, of the light of life in 
Christ Jesus our Lord, among all classes of 
men;—and suppose the suitable petitions on 
that subject were introduced thus: “ O thou 
Source of all knowledge, with whom there is 
light, and “no darkness at all,” have mercy 
upon our land. Thou alone art able to scatter 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


243 


the shades of night that rest upon the 
n nations. Send, we beseech thee, far and 
wide, the light of science, and especially the 
light of the glorious gospel of the blessed 
God, to all people from the rising to the 
setting sun. Let our children, and the chil¬ 
dren of all around us, be trained up “in the 
nurture and admonition of the Lord,” and 
let “ all kindreds and people and nations and 
tongues be made to know thee the only true 
God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast 
sent.” And so, if we were about to pray for 
the speedy and extended conversion of im¬ 
penitent men, we might enter on the topic 
in some such way as the following: “ O Thou 
who delightest not in the death of the sin¬ 
ner, but rather that he turn unto thee and 
live, have compassion upon those who know 
thee not, and will not have thee to reign 
over them. Open their eyes before it be 
for ever too late; convince them of sin, and 
bring them willingly to the love, the service, 
and the glory of Him, who, though he was 
rich, yet for our sakes became poor, that 
we through his poverty might be rich.” 

These appropriate titles, and modes of 
addressing the Most High, are not only in 


244 


THOUGHTS ON 


perfect keeping with the petitions intended 
to follow them; but they are adapted to pre¬ 
pare the minds of worshippers for uniting in 
those petitions, and for giving them a more 
prompt and edifying access to their feelings. 
I cannot help thinking that this plan would 
recommend itself to the Christian judgment 
of many, if it were once fairly and largely 
adopted. 

XI. A good public prayer should ever he 
strongly marked with the spirit and the lan¬ 
guage of hope and confidence. Strictly speak¬ 
ing, it is the church alone that really prays. 
If so, her prayers ought ever to be couched 
in the language of filial love, and of humble, 
tender reliance on the favour and faithful¬ 
ness of her covenant God. The devout, 
heavenly-minded McCheyne, states, in one 
of his familiar letters, that a certain pious 
minister had remarked concerning the prayers 
of another minister, that he prayed 4 ‘as if he 
thought that God was not willing to grant the 
blessings which he asked.” It is a real fault 
when prayers wear an aspect in accordance 
with this remark. Our gracious covenant 
God loves to be taken at his word; to be 
firmly and affectionately trusted; to have his 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


245 


exceeding great and precious promises im¬ 
portunately pleaded; and to be approached 
as a willing, tender Father, not only “mighty 
to save,” but ready and willing to save; 
more ready to bestow the gifts of his grace 
than earthly parents to give good things to 
their children. This is, perhaps, the true 
idea of the “prayer of faith;” and the more 
strongly it marks all our approaches to the 
throne of grace, the more is it in accordance 
with the spirit of the covenant of grace. 

XII. The prayer after sermon , which is 
commonly short, is very often, not only a 
brief, but a mere general, pointless, and un¬ 
interesting effusion, simply imploring a di¬ 
vine blessing on what has been said, equally 
applicable to every similar occasion, and 
only adapted to prepare the way for the 
close of the service. Instead of this, the 
closing prayer ought to be framed upon the 
plan of making it, as far as possible, one of 
the most solemn, appropriate, and impressive 
parts of the whole service. It ought to be 
formed upon the plan of taking hold of the 
conscience and the heart most deeply and 
effectually, and of uniting as far as possible 
the most pointed and searching solemnity of 


246 


THOUGHTS ON 


application, with the most perfect tenderness 
and affection of appeal. The closing prayers 
of Whitefield were often peculiarly appro¬ 
priate and inimitably touching; and those of 
Nettleton were, perhaps, never exceeded for 
appropriate simplicity, and adaptedness to 
seal the impressions of the preceding sermon. 
The preacher who can consent, after deliver¬ 
ing a sermon of solemn, discriminating cha¬ 
racter, to close, as is often done, with a few 
sentences of perfectly common-place prayer, 
as much adapted to one subject as another, 
is guilty of abandoning an advantage which 
ought to be dear to a wise man. Every sen¬ 
tence of the prayer after sermon ought to be, 
thoughtfully and carefully constructed upon 
the plan of deepening and riveting every 
impression attempted to be made in the pre¬ 
ceding discourse. And, for this purpose, it 
ought to be, on common occasions, rather 
longer than it usually is, and constructed 
upon a principle of rich appropriateness in 
following the sermon. 

XIII. In regard to the use of the Lord's 
Prayer in the devotions of the sanctuary, it 
is proper, in this chapter, to make some re¬ 
marks. It has been seen, I trust, in prece- 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


247 


ding parts of this volume, by every impartial 
reader, that the prayer which bears this title 
was never intended by Him who gave it, to 
be used as a permanent, precise, verbal form; 
but that it was designed rather as a general 
directory for prayer, to point out the things 
to be prayed for, and the general strain and 
structure of this exercise, and not the exact 
words to be employed. If this be so, then 
the abundant use of this prayer by the 
Romish Church, and by some Protestant 
churches, in formally introducing it into 
every service, and on some occasions three 
or four times into the service of the same 
day, seems liable to serious question—as 
having no' adequate warrant, either in the 
word of God, or in the early usage of the 
Church. 

Still the Presbyterian Church regards this 
prayer with deep veneration, and by no 
means repudiates the use of it. As dropping 
from the lips of the Saviour himself, and as 
marked with so much heavenly wisdom, she 
regards it with profound respect and esteem, 
and, like every other part of the inspired 
word, takes pleasure in manifesting for it 
unfeigned Christian reverence. She, there- 


248 


THOUGHTS ON 


fore, both recommends and practises the use 
of it in l^er public devotion. Accordingly, 
our Presbyterian fathers, in the Directory 
for the public worship of God, drawn up and 
established by the Westminster Assembly of 
Divines, and afterwards adopted by the 
General Assembly of the Church of Scot¬ 
land, speak of the use of this prayer in the 
following unequivocal and pointed terms.— 
Speaking of “prayer after sermon,” they 
say—“ And because the prayer which Christ 
taught his disciples is not only a pattern of 
prayer, but is itself a most comprehensive 
prayer, we recommend that it also be used 
in the prayers of the Church.” This judg¬ 
ment is adopted and expressed, in the same 
words, by our fathers of the American 
Church, in the Directory framed by them in 
1788. 

As Presbyterians, then, we are far from 
objecting to the repetition of the Lord’s 
Prayer in the public service of the sanc¬ 
tuary. The only question that we ask, is, 
what shall be the rule for its use? Shall we 
repeat it always—more than any other words 
or prayer that were ever uttered by our 
blessed Lord? Shall we repeat it more than 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


249 


once in the same service, as if there were 
some magic in its terms? Shall we insist 
on its repetition, even on occasions on which 
its language does not appear peculiarly ap¬ 
propriate? We think not. As we are per¬ 
suaded that it was never intended by our 
blessed Saviour to be so invariably and for¬ 
mally used; as we do not find a trace of evi¬ 
dence that the apostolic church ever used it 
thus, or even at all after its establishment in 
the New Testament form, we cannot sup¬ 
pose the constant use of it to be binding. 
Yet we believe and teach that the occasional, 
the frequent use of it, is proper, and suffi¬ 
cient to meet every demand that the most 
scrupulous regard to the principle of Chris¬ 
tian obligation can lay upon us. 

I once knew an excellent and popular 
Presbyterian minister who found it con¬ 
venient to be systematic in every thing. 
And he was so in regard to the subject 
under consideration. He closed the last 
prayer in the morning of every Lord’s day 
with the repetition of the Lord’s prayer; and 
the whole service every afternoon with the 
Christian doxology. This is rather too rigid¬ 
ly systematic and formal for me. I have 
22 


250 


THOUGHTS ON 


never felt bound or inclined to tie myself to 
the practice with even so great frequency as 
this; but have contented myself with using 
that form, at the close of one of the prayers, 
once in two, three, or four weeks, so as on 
the one hand, to testify, that I venerated and 
loved to use it, and, on the other, that it had 
not, in my view, any special binding obliga¬ 
tion as a form, or any special efficacy as a 
means. 

XIV. It is important to add, that the 
whole manner of uttering a public prayer 
should be in accordance with the humble, 
filial, affectionate, yet reverential spirit, 
which ought to characterize the prayer itself 
throughout. To hear a prayer uttered in a 
manner ill in keeping with the sentiments 
implied, and the petitions expressed; to hear 
a penitent believing sinner, bowing before 
the mercy-seat, and imploring pardoning 
mercy and sanctifying grace; confessing 
total unworthiness of the least favour, while 
imploring the greatest of all favours, tempo¬ 
ral and eternal;—and yet making his appeal 
to the great Searcher of hearts in a pompous 
dictatorial manner, is indeed revolting to an 
enlightened, pious taste. Surely here, if 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


251 


ever, the manner of the suppliant ought to 
correspond with the humble, contrite spirit 
which he professes to cherish, and which his 
words express. The eyes ought to be gently 
closed, shutting out every scene adapted to 
arrest the attention, or to break in on that 
entire abstraction from earth and its affairs 
which the exercise presupposes. We are 
expressly told that this was the manner of 
the preachers in the primitive Church. 
Several of the early fathers tell us that the 
officiating ministers, in the second and third 
centuries, always prayed in public “ closing 
the eyes of the body, and lifting up those of 
the mind to heaven.” I have knowrn a few 
ministers of our Church who always prayed 
in public with their eyes wide open, and in 
some cases evidently looking about the as¬ 
sembly. This was always considered as 
unfriendly to a devotional spirit, and was 
connected with disagreeable impressions on 
the part of the great mass of the worshippers. 

The voice ought also to be regulated in a 
manner adapted to the solemn exercise in 
which it is employed. The vocal utterance, 
the tones, and the whole manner of a 
suppliant who is deeply penitent, and truly 


252 


THOUGHTS ON 


in earnest, as they find a response in every 
human bosom, so they never fail to disclose 
themselves, and to become manifest when¬ 
ever they really exist; and, on the other 
hand, those modulations of the voice in 
prayer which indicate either the absence of 
true feeling, or the presence of a dictatorial, 
haughty, disrespectful spirit toward the 
greatest and best of beings, never fail to 
revolt the minds of those who watch the 
language, and are capable of entering into 
the spirit of this holy exercise. 

In a good public prayer, then, the voice, 
and the whole manner are made the objects 
of serious and diligent attention. And as a 
happy result here cannot be reached by 
“ mimic attempts,” we can only hope to suc¬ 
ceed by having the heart right. If, there¬ 
fore, we expect our voice, when we lead in 
this responsible exercise, to convey by every 
vibration of articulate sound to the ear of 
every fellow-worshipper the idea of humility, 
contrition of spirit, earnest desire, filial sub¬ 
mission, and tender, persevering importunity, 
we must try, by the grace of God, really to 
attain this state of mind—really to feel what 
we utter. We must try to acquire this truly 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


253 


devout, penitent, submissive, and fervent 
importunity which is so desirable, or we 
shall never be likely to convey, by sym¬ 
pathy, to the minds of others, the feeling that 
we are really in earnest. 

It may not be improper to subjoin, that 
the humble, submissive, penitent, pleading 
modulation of the voice here recommended, 
ought to be deemed specially appropriate— 
peculiarly indispensable when we are im¬ 
ploring mercy for a suffering community; 
pleading for the sick and dying; bewailing 
the hidings of our Father’s face; mourning 
over the low state of religion; or soliciting 
the return of his reviving and life-giving 
Spirit. Here any other posture than the dust 
of abasement; any other tones than those of 
the humblest importunity, can hardly be 
supposed to be tolerated by a believing 
worshipper. 

XV. I have only to add a few remarks 
in reference to that emphatic word, Amen ! 
with which all prayers are commonly ended. 
This is a word, as is well known, of Hebrew 
origin, and used, in nearly the same form, in 
all the dialects of the eastern cognate lan¬ 
guages. The original idea which it conveys 
22 * 


254 


THOUGHTS ON 


is that of truth, certainty. Sometimes it is 
used as a noun; as when Christ (Rev. i. 5,) 
is called the “ Amen, the faithful and true 
witness.” Sometimes as an adjective; as 
when we are told (2 Cor. i. 20,) that “ all the 
promises of God are yea and Amen,” i. e., 
firm, certain, infallible. Sometimes as an 
adverb, as when our blessed Saviour (John 
iii. 3,) said to Nicodemus, “ Verily , verily , I 
say unto you, except a man be born again,” 
&c., that is, truly, truly, or certainly as you 
live. And sometimes as an interjection, as 
when the meaning obviously is—Be it so! 
Let it be as we have said! God grant it! 

It would seem, from 1 Cor. xiv. 16, that it 
was customary in the Apostolic Church for 
those who united in prayer, to signify their 
assent to what had been uttered, by saying 
Amen, at the close. And if this were done 
wisely, soberly, and with a truly devout 
spirit, it might still be useful. In the second 
century, as we are informed by Justin Mar¬ 
tyr, at the close of prayer, the people were 
wont to express their concurrence by saying 
Amen. And, in the fourth century, Jerome 
tells us that this practice was carried so far, 
and accompanied with so much license of 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


255 


voice, in the city of Rome, that the utterance 
of Amen at the close of prayer was like an 
outburst of thunder. It is not improbable 
that some such inconvenient abuse ulti¬ 
mately led to the curbing, if not to the sup¬ 
pression of this popular vociferation. 

In the prayers of some churches, the 
Amen is seldom or never uttered by the 
officiating minister himself; but always in 
the form of a response, either by a conspicu¬ 
ous individual, who acts as clerk, or by the 
mass of the worshippers, or both. In all the 
Presbyterian churches throughout the world, 
the officiating minister, it is believed, is in 
the habit of pronouncing this word himself, 
wdiich all his fellow-worshippers are expected 
silently to adopt and make their own. And 
this would seem to be in accordance with 
the best authorities. Where this word oc¬ 
curs in the book of Psalms, it is evidently 
added by the same hand that penned the 
inspired song or prayer, and is not left to be 
breathed or added by him who reads. In 
the directory for prayer which our blessed 
Lord gave to his disciples, he adds the Amen 
himself, precisely in the manner customary 
among us. He did not leave it to be sup- 


256 


THOUGHTS ON 


plied by him who heard or adopted the 
prayer. In all the doxologies with which the 
inspired Apostles close their Epistles, the 
Amen is added by the inspired writer, and not 
left to be added by one who makes a re¬ 
sponse. And why should not the man who 
leads in prayer pronounce this emphatic 
word himself? Nay, why should he not be 
expected a fortiori to do it; to take the lead 
in doing it, and by his emphatic example to 
excite others to more cordiality and more 
fervour of assent? 

But I have much fault to find with the 
manner in which the Amen is pronounced 
by many of those who conduct the public 
devotions of our Church. Many pronounce 
it in that short, rapid manner which divests 
it at once of all emphasis and all meaning; 
many in that feeble, inaudible, half-smothered 
manner which gives it the aspect of any 
thing but the expression of an ardent wish. 
A few with that protracted “ nasal twang” 
which confers upon it the character of con¬ 
summate formality. Only now and then is 
one heard to pronounce it in that distinct, 
tender, emphatic manner which indicates 
real feeling and earnest desire; and which 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 257 

seems to express any thing like what the 
term really imports. 

In the word Amen, both syllables ought 
to be accented. The celebrated orthoepist, 
Walker, tells us that this is the only word in 
the English language of two syllables, that 
has two consecutive accents. If this be so, 
then the first syllable or letter should be pro¬ 
nounced as a in amiable, and be marked 
with a strong accent; and the second with 
equal distinctness of accent, as in the sylla¬ 
ble formed by the plural of man; thus 
making a clear, distinct, and strongly marked 
utterance of A-men. This, accompanied 
with a proper stress of voice, solemnity of 
manner, and pathos of tone, would make of 
the devout interjection before us, in effect, 
and on the popular ear and mind, something 
like what it was intended to be. 


258 


CHAPTER VI. 

THE BEST MEANS OF ATTAINING EXCELLENCE IN 
CONDUCTING PUBLIC PRAYER. 

Excellence in this, as well as in the other 
parts of the public service, is comparative. 
As in preaching there are rare attainments in 
eloquence, which few can hope to reach, and 
which we cannot promise shall be reached 
by all, however zealously and faithfully they 
may apply themselves to the study; so in 
public prayer, a few have risen to a point of 
happy excellence seldom attained; an excel¬ 
lence flowing from a combination of natural 
and spiritual accomplishments which can 
only be expected now and then to meet and 
shine forth. But, as in preaching, so in 
prayer, the subject is a proper object of 
study, and may be expected, in all ordinary 
cases, to reward, as well as to encourage, 
faithful and persevering study. 

It will not, I trust, be imagined by any 
that I am about to prescribe a course of pre¬ 
paration for this exercise of a formal, and 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


259 


above all, of a mechanical nature, which, by 
a sort of human machinery, will insure suc¬ 
cess. By no means. Nothing is further 
from my view. But that there is an appro¬ 
priate preparation for it, and a course which 
may lead to great improvement in it, I can¬ 
not doubt; and a preparation corresponding 
with the spiritual and elevated character of 
the exercise itself. 

The opinion of the venerated fathers of 
our church on this subject will appear from 
the following counsel, contained in the fifth 
chapter of the “ Directory for the Worship of 
God.” That chapter, entitled “ Of Public 
Prayer,” after a variety of appropriate direc¬ 
tions, thus concludes: 

“ It is easy to perceive, that in all the pre¬ 
ceding directions, there is a very great com¬ 
pass and variety; and it is committed to the 
judgment and fidelity of the officiating pas¬ 
tor to insist chiefly on such parts, or to take 
in more or less of the several parts, as he 
shall be led to, by the aspect of Providence; 
the particular state of the congregation in 
which he officiates; or the disposition and 
exercise of his own heart at the time. But 
we think it necessary to observe, that, al- 


260 


THOUGHTS ON 


though we do not approve, as is well known, 
of confining ministers to set or fixed forms of 
prayer for public worship; yet it is the in¬ 
dispensable duty of every minister, previous¬ 
ly to his entering on his office, to prepare 
and qualify himself for this part of his duty, 
as well as for preaching. He ought, by a 
thorough acquaintance with the Holy Scrip¬ 
tures; by reading the best writers on the 
subject; by meditation; and by a life of holy 
communion with God in secret, to endeavour 
to acquire both the spirit and the gift of 
prayer. Not only so; but, when he is to 
enter on particular acts of worship, he should 
endeavour to compose his spirit, and to 
digest his thoughts for prayer, that it may 
be performed with dignity and propriety, as 
well as to the profit of those whq join in it; 
and that he may not disgrace that important 
service by mean, irregular, or extravagant 
effusions.” 

What our venerated fathers place in a 
later clause in their list of counsels, I wish 
to stand in the fore-front of my suggestions 
in regard to this subject. I say, therefore, 
with great confidence, 

I. That none can hope to attain excellence 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


261 


in the grace and gift of prayer in the public 
assembly, unless they abound in closet devo¬ 
tion, and in holy communion with God in 
secret. It is true that, without this, there 
may be much formal accuracy; much co¬ 
piousness and variety, both as to topics and 
language; much rhetorical beauty; much 
that is unexceptionable both in matter and 
manner. But, without this, there will not, 
there cannot be that feeling sense of divine 
things; that spirit of humble, filial importu¬ 
nity ; that holy familiarity with the throne 
of grace, and with the covenant God who 
sits upon it, which bespeak one at home in 
prayer, and whose whole heart is in the 
exercise. To expect the latter without the 
former, w T ould be to look for an effect with¬ 
out its necessary cause; would be to expect 
to see our deficiencies supplied by a constant 
course of miracles. 

The inspired wise man tells us, that “ the 
heart of the wise teacheth his mouth, and 
addeth learning to his lips.”* Never were 
these words more remarkably exemplified 
than in regard to the subject now before us. 


* Prov. xvi. 23. 

23 


262 


THOUGHTS ON 


It is an old maxim, that no one was ever 
truly eloquent who did not really and deeply 
feel ; who did not truly and heartily enter 
into the spirit of the subject concerning 
which he undertook to speak. The maxim 
is incontrovertibly just; but it is peculiarly 
and pre-eminently just in regard to public 
prayer. When the heart is engaged, and in 
proportion as it is deeply and warmly en¬ 
gaged ; when the value of spiritual blessings 
is cordially felt, and the attainment of them 
earnestly desired; when the soul has a heart¬ 
felt sense of its own unworthiness, and an 
humble, tender confidence in the Saviour’s 
love and grace—in a word, when the whole 
soul is prepared to flow out in accordance 
with the language uttered, in faith, love, 
gratitude and heavenly desire;—then, and 
only then, will every petition, and word, and 
tone be, in some good degree, in happy keep¬ 
ing with the nature and scope of the exer¬ 
cise. When the spirit of him who leads the 
assembly is in this appropriate and happy 
frame, we may safely trust him in regard to 
all that shall flow from his lips. 

It cannot be doubted that a defect here is 
one of the most abundant sources of faults in 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


263 


public prayer. Hence the frigid, unfeeling 
accuracy, so often observable in this part of 
the service of the sanctuary. Hence the 
hesitation, the embarrassment, and the va¬ 
rious improprieties so frequently witnessed 
in the public prayers of able and pious men. 
They have not come from their knees in pri¬ 
vate to the services of the sacred desk. They 
have not come with hearts reeking with the 
hallowed influences of the closet, to be the 
leaders of the Lord’s host in the sanctuary. 
The consequence is, their hearts are cold. 
Though, perhaps, not strangers to the grace 
of God, they have not so often, or so recently 
as they ought to have done, summoned them, 
as it were, into the Divine presence, and so 
laboured to impress them with a sense of 
their own poverty and weakness, and of the 
Divine glory, as to make every confession 
and petition the unfeigned utterance of the 
heart. How much more will all these de¬ 
fects be likely to be, not only really, but sen¬ 
sibly aggravated, if there be not only a state 
of present coldness, but, as we have too 
much reason to fear there may sometimes be, 
the entire absence of experimental piety ! 

Many years ago, when I was a pastor in a 


264 


THOUGHTS ON 


neighbouring city, a beloved and eminently 
pious brother occupied, by invitation, my 
pulpit; and rich indeed were the services 
which he performed. His sermon was pious, 
instructive, and excellent; but his prayers 
were peculiarly appropriate, rich, and im¬ 
pressive; indeed in what might not impro¬ 
perly be called a superior style of importu¬ 
nate, touching devotion. I was struck with 
this when engaged in uniting with my ex¬ 
cellent brother; but still more, when, on 
withdrawing from the sanctuary, an aged 
mother in Israel said to me in passing, “That 
man prays as if he lived at the throne of 
grace.” 

And hence it is, no doubt, that we some¬ 
times meet with men of comparatively weak 
minds, of very small attainments in human 
knowledge, and in every respect unqualified 
advantageously to address an assembly in 
continued discourse, who were yet peculiarly 
excellent and edifying in social prayer. 
There they appeared in their element; happy 
in thought; ready and striking in expres¬ 
sion; and uttering themselves with all that 
unembarrassed, simple, filial, touching man¬ 
ner which flowed from a mind perfectly 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


265 


familiar with the throne of grace, and daily 
accustomed to spread their wants and desires 
before it on all manner of subjects. We 
have seen such deeply spiritual men, when 
suddenly called upon to officiate on an un¬ 
usual occasion, without the least hesitation, 
engaging in the service, and going through 
it with all the child-like ease, fluency, and 
enlargement which indicated that they were 
accustomed to plead with the Hearer of 
prayer in secret, on all manner of subjects 
relating to Christian experience, and to the 
state of the Church and the world. I have 
been sometimes surprised and delighted to 
find plain unlettered men performing this 
duty with a readiness and richness both of 
thought and expression, superior to those 
exhibited by many learned and eloquent di¬ 
vines; convincing every fellow-worshipper 
that they had acquired the precious gift not 
by literary study or discipline, but by habit¬ 
ual and intimate communion with God, and 
the daily practice of pleading with him for 
the riches of his grace, and embodying in 
simple, familiar language all the desires of 
their hearts. 

We are told of the great Reformer, Martin 
23 * 


266 


THOUGHTS ON 


Luther, that his public prayers had a life, a 
power, a heartiness, a wrestling importunity 
of the most remarkable kind. But we are 
told of the same wonderful man that he spent 
from three to four hours every day in his 
closet, pleading with God for blessings on 
his own soul and ministry, and on the great 
cause in which he was engaged. 

If, then, any desire to make happy attain¬ 
ments, and progressive improvement both in 
the grace and the gift of public prayer, the 
closet will be found the appropriate and the 
most important nursery. If the object be to 
train the heart to believing and delightful 
intercourse with heaven, and the lips to a 
simple, affectionate, and happy utterance of 
the desires of the heart, where can we find a 
place or an employment so directly and hap¬ 
pily adapted to gain our purpose, as the altar 
of private devotion, to which we resort for 
holding communion with God in secret; 
where, upon our bended knees, we read and 
study the word of God, and strive to trans¬ 
plant its diction and its spirit into our own 
souls? Surely this is the place, and this 
the employment in which the soul is to be 
nurtured to spiritual views, to holy desires, 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


267 


to faith, and love, and joy. This is the place 
and this the employment in which, by the 
aid of the Holy Spirit, we may expect to 
make progress in holy intimacy with God, 
and in that sanctified and feeling fervour 
which is the parent of all genuine importu¬ 
nity in prayer. In a word, this is the place, 
and this the employment in which, under 
God, the spiritual taste is to be purified, the 
spiritual appetite increased, the affections 
lifted up to heaven, and the lips touched as 
with a live coal from off God’s holy altar to 
speak his praise. 

We may safely say, then, that no man 
ever attained any high degree of excellence 
in public prayer, who had not previously 
cultivated peculiar intimacy with his cove¬ 
nant God in secret devotion; who did not 
abound in closet prayer; who had not had 
his heart trained to more than common fami¬ 
liarity with, and affection for, new covenant 
blessings; and his tongue loosened to pour 
out spiritual desires without reserve or falter¬ 
ing. I would certainly place this in the 
front rank of all means to \>e employed for 
the attainment in question. He that would 
be acceptable and powerful in public prayer, 


268 


THOUGHTS ON 


must know something habitually of what is 
meant by “wrestling with God” in his 
closet: must be “ mighty” in secret prayer, 
as well as in the Scriptures. He who ne¬ 
glects this, or who has little taste for this, 
might as well expect a miracle to be wrought 
for his help every time he enters the pulpit. 
The kind of excellence in this service which 
we wish to see, “ goeth not out but by prayer 
and fasting.” 

II. Another means, not so essential, and 
yet highly important, if any desire to attain 
excellence in public prayer, is, not only to 
read , but to study some of the best books 
which have treated of this subject. 

If any one in giving counsel to a candi¬ 
date for the holy ministry, to prepare him 
for preaching, should omit to refer him to 
the best authors who have treated of sermon¬ 
izing, he would be regarded as a most defec¬ 
tive counsellor. And the candidate who, 
after such authors had been recommended to 
him, should undervalue and neglect them, 
would be deemed altogether demented.— 
Surely it is no less unwise to disregard simi¬ 
lar aid in reference to that part of the public 
service which is now under consideration. 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


269 


Though many ministers of the gospel appear 
to he altogether unconscious of the value of 
this help, or of their personal need of it, yet 
some eminently pious and learned divines 
have made a very different estimate, and 
have employed themselves in giving detailed 
counsel on this subject, and in making large 
collections of scriptural texts for the aid of 
the young and inexperienced. My impres¬ 
sion is, that, however such books may be 
disregarded by the superficial and the igno¬ 
rant, the wiser and the better furnished of 
the sacred order have ever regarded them 
with favour, and made the highest estimate 
of their value. 

Among the most respectable of these 
writers are, Bishop Wilkins, of the Church 
of England, who, though a prelate of that 
church, was a warm advocate for the privi¬ 
lege of extemporary or free prayer;* the 
Rev. Matthew Henry, the far-famed com¬ 
mentator on the Bible ;f the Rev. Nathaniel 

* A Discourse concerning the Gift of Prayer, showing what 
it is, wherein it consists, and how far it is attainable by indus¬ 
try-1670. 

f A Method for Prayer, with Scripture expressions proper 
to be used under each head—8vo. 1710. 


270 


THOUGHTS ON 


Vincent, a pious and learned divine of Lon¬ 
don, in the seventeenth century;* and the 
Lev. Dr. Watts, whose praise is in all the 
churches of Christ.f The object of all these 
excellent writers was, not merely to illustrate 
and urge the nature and importance of 
prayer in general, but to furnish aid, espe¬ 
cially to the young and inexperienced, who 
desire to make improvement both in the 
grace and the gift of extemporary, social, 
and public prayer. To these may be added 
the numerous writers who have published 
large collections of forms of prayer, for the 
closet, the family, and the prayer-meeting. 
Of these, Jenks, Bishop Andrews, Bishop 
Kenn, Bennet, Jeremy Taylor, Scott, and 
Jay, are among the best. Not that they are 
all equally clear and sound in their evangeli¬ 
cal views; but they are all rich in devotional 
topics and language, and furnish, to the en¬ 
lightened and thinking student, those mate¬ 
rials out of which, if he be not greatly in 
fault, he may add largely to his devotional 

* The Spirit of Prayer, wherein the nature of prayer is 
opened, the kinds of prayer are handled, and the right manner 
of praying discovered, &c.—12mo. 1677. 

t A Guide to Prayer, &c.—12mo. 1730. 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


271 


stores. We, not unfrequently, derive some 
of our best thoughts and happiest expres¬ 
sions from conversation with those from 
whom we differ most entirely both in spirit 
and opinion. The most truly valuable use 
we can make of any book, especially one on 
such a subject, is by no means servilely 
copying its pages; but by digesting its 
thoughts; by making them our own; and, 
in short, like a spiritual chemist, subjecting 
its matter to those various analyses and mo¬ 
difications which both the imagination and 
the heart can often apply to the most per¬ 
verse and intractable materials. 

It is, perhaps, not unjust to say, that the 
prevailing mistake of young preachers is to 
undervalue and neglect such elementary 
works as I have described, partly from un¬ 
consciousness of their own defects, and part¬ 
ly from the notion that such works are rather 
beneath them. It is storied of the late Prin¬ 
cipal Robertson, the celebrated historian, and 
for many years the venerated leader of the 
moderate party in the Church of Scotland, 
that he was often solicited by candidates for 
the ministry in that church, to give them 
instruction and counsel with respect to their 


272 


THOUGHTS ON 


studies, especially in the earlier stages of 
them. Though he was far from being him¬ 
self evangelical in the general character of 
his mind and preaching; yet we are told 
that he never failed to advise such inquirers 
to begin by studying with great care Vin¬ 
cent* on the “ Shorter Catechism.’’ And 
when they gave a response, as they often 
did, which satisfied him that they considered 
Vincent’s work as beneath them, tlrat is, too 
simple and elementary to be studied by those 
who had risen above the classes of catechized 
children, he often replied—“ Young man, 
you mistake the matter. That book, though 
simple and elementary in its character, is 
full of sound theology, and of methodized 
mature thought. If you master that work, 
and impress it thoroughly on your mind, you 
will have accomplished far more than you 
imagine. You will have laid the foundation 
for safe, systematic thinking, and for that 
course of didactic instruction which it will 
be the business of your life to pursue.” 
This counsel was worthy of the sagacity of 
that Presbyterian rationalist. He knew that 

* Thomas Vincent, an elder brother of Nathaniel, mentioned 
in a preceding paragraph, who wrote on Prayer. 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


273 


these young men were expected to preach in 
conformity with the Confession of Faith and 
other formularies of the Church of Scotland; 
and he was perfectly aware that they could 
take no step better adapted to prepare then* 
for performing that work in the most accept¬ 
able and useful manner, than to begin by 
making themselves masters of a work which, 
though adapted to instruct and benefit the 
most untutored youth who had the least in¬ 
telligence, was fitted also to enlighten and 
feed the most mature and vigorous mind. 

It is a good sign, therefore, when candi¬ 
dates for the holy ministry do not feel too 
wise to be taught; when they do not “des¬ 
pise the day of small things;” when they are 
willing to read and to impress upon their 
memories sound, clear, elementary treatises 
on every department of the publie service. 
Such a spirit affords a pledge that they are 
willing to listen to the dictates of wisdom 
and experience, and will be apt to lay a foum 
dation for those mature and solid attainments 
which cannot fail to last long, and to wear 
well. 

Let a candidate for the holy ministry, 
then, take all the books which have been 
24 


274 


THOUGHTS ON 


mentioned, if they be all within his reach: 
let him read them carefully, taking pains to 
impress their leading contents on his memo¬ 
ry : let him make such written notes on the 
several parts as may serve at once to aid his 
memory, and impart order and system to his 
views: and, finally, having done this with 
great care, not only during the term of his 
preliminary studies, hut also often during the 
first ten years of his ministerial labours: let 
him not disdain the occasional use of them 
for the same purpose, as long as he lives:— 
remembering that in this, as well as with 
regard to many other things, every minister 
of the gospel ought to be a close student, and 
a diligent learner to the end of life. One of 
the evils against which every minister who 
values either his Master’s honour, or his own 
usefulness, ought sacredly and constantly to 
guard, not once only, but to his last breath, 
is the tendency in aged ministers to grow 
careless, or, at least, greatly to relax their 
attention to this matter. The infirmities of 
the aged unavoidably bring with them so 
many things which make large demands on 
the indulgence of those around them, that a 
wise man, when he approaches the closing 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


275 


scene of life, will strive to let these infirm¬ 
ities be as few, and as little prominent as he 
possibly can. 

III. Another means of attaining excellence 
in public prayer, is to store the mind with the 
language and the riches of the word of God. 

It was mentioned, in a preceding chapter, 
as an important element of excellence in a 
good public prayer, that it should abound in 
the language of Scripture. If this be the 
case, then the best means of enriching our 
prayers with this precious element, must be 
considered as worthy of serious attention 
and inquiry. In this inquiry, it is the object 
of the present section to afford aid. 

If we examine the word of God with a 
discriminating eye, and with a mind ready 
to absorb, and • appropriate to the devout 
element, whatever can be legitimately so 
appropriated, we. shall find that every book 
and every chapter, from Genesis to the 
Apocalypse, affords ample stores for our pur¬ 
pose. In all the historical books, we shall 
find facts stated, principles expressed or im¬ 
plied, or allusions conveyed, which, without 
any conceit or unnatural forcing, admit of 
the happiest application and use in prayer. 


276 


THOUGHTS ON 


Thus the process of creation; the command 
to the light to shine out of darkness; the 
entrance of sin into the world; the expulsion 
from paradise; the sacrifices of Cain and 
Abel, with their different results; the over¬ 
whelming flood which sin brought upon the 
world of the ungodly; the call of Abraham; 
the going down into Egypt; the bondage of 
the people there; their deliverance by the 
hand of Moses; the passage of the destroy¬ 
ing angel over the land of Egypt; the de¬ 
liverance of the Israelites by the sprinkling 
of blood on the door-posts of their dwellings; 
the departure of their armies; the pursuit of 
Pharaoh; the destruction of his host in the 
Red Sea; the subsistence of the congrega¬ 
tion on manna in the wilderness; their 
many murmurings and rebellions there; 
their entrance into Canaan; their protracted 
wars in expelling the Canaanites; &c., &c., 
may all be rendered subservient to the devo¬ 
tions of the sanctuary; not to be lugged in, 
in a clumsy, didactic, and simply historical 
style ; but either by such remote allusion, or 
such direct reference as may at once gratify 
the most literary and the most devout taste. 

To illustrate my meaning, if there were 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


277 


occasion in prayer to plead the cause of a 
whole church, or any particular part of it, 
encompassed and struggling with difficulty, 
wffiat could be more adapted to touch the 
feelings, and warm the hearts of devout 
worshippers, than to plead in some such 
way as the following: “ O Thou who didst 
of old, deliver thy covenant people from the 
bondage of Egypt, and didst open a way 
through the sea for them to pass in safety; 
so may it please thee now to deliver thy 
afflicted and struggling Church, to disap¬ 
point those who seek her hurt, to sanctify to 
her all her troubles, and bring her out of 
them all with increasing purity, and peace, 
and joy.” Or, supposing we had occasion 
to bewail the slavery of sin, and to pray for 
deliverance from the bondage of corruption, 
we might say—“ We are by nature carnal, 
sold under sin; but we rejoice to know that, 
as thou didst once bring thy people out of 
bondage, and make them the Lord’s free¬ 
men in their own land; so thou hast pro¬ 
mised, by the Lord Jesus Christ, to proclaim 
liberty to the captives, and the opening of 
the prison to them that are the bond slaves 
of Satan. We rejoice to read in thy word, 
24 * 


278 


THOUGHTS ON 


that, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the 
wilderness, even so the Son of man has been 
lifted up, that whosoever believeth on him 
should not perish, but obtain eternal life.” 
And again: “We bless thee that when the 
destroying angel received his commission to 
go forth, and to smite the first born with 
disease and death, thou didst, by the sprink¬ 
ling of blood, give thy people a-pledge of 
life; so we pray that now, amidst the multi¬ 
tudes who are dying around us, many may 
be sprinkled by that blood which cleanseth 
from all sin, and which alone can prepare 
for the abodes of peace and love.” Or again: 
“We thank thee that, when thou wast about 
to bring a flood upon the world of the 
ungodly, thou didst provide an ark for 
saving one man, righteous in his generation, 
and his family; so now we praise thee that 
thou hast provided a greater and better ark 
for saving all of our world of sinners who are 
willing to enter in. O that multitudes in 
the midst of us might be made willing in a 
day of thy power!” 

Now, as the recollection of these historical 
references can be expected to occur readily 
and seasonably only to those who remember 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


279 


and study them; and as the appositeness 
of their occurrence, and the felicity of their 
application will depend not a little on the 
degree in which the minds of individuals are 
habituated to run in that channel; it follows 
that every minister of the gospel who desires 
to prepare himself in the best manner for 
this part of the public service, ought to 
read every part of the word of God with a 
view to this application of it; pondering in 
his mind the use that might be made of 
every record, and thus making every portion 
of his scriptural reading subservient to his 
public work. It is my fixed opinion, that if 
ministers and candidates for the ministry 
were in the habit of reading the Bible with 
as fixed and strong a purpose, and as earnest 
an endeavour to make it all subservient to 
their improvement in public prayer, as in 
public preaching, we should find new rich¬ 
ness and glory shed on the devotional exer¬ 
cises of the sanctuary. 

But it would be wise to go further than 
has been suggested. I would earnestly re¬ 
commend that portions of the word of God 
be every day, and certainly every week, 
carefully committed to memory, with a parti- 


280 


THOUGHTS ON 


cular view to their use in public prayer. 
While every part of the word of God, as we 
have already seen, may be made an auxiliary 
in appropriate and happy prayer, it is well 
known that there are other parts which 
furnish large and precious examples of 
prayer itself, or of that which easily admits 
of being thrown into the form of most tender, 
importunate, and elevated prayer. The 
whole book of Psalms furnishes an example 
of what we here mean. We may consider 
this portion of the word of God the great 
storehouse of devotional composition, many 
parts of which every minister ought to have 
carefully deposited in his memory, and to be 
able, at will, to produce them in the sacred 
desk. In like manner, the writings of all 
the Prophets, and especially those of Isaiah 
and Daniel, present much matter which will 
strike every judicious minister as exceeding¬ 
ly rich in materials for public devotion. 
And with these every part of the New 
Testament teems, more particularly the 
apostolical Epistles, and the Revelation of 
John the Divine. Let large portions of 
these be faithfully committed to memory, 
and the recollection of them with ease be 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


281 


insured by a frequent repetition of the de¬ 
posit. It was said of the late celebrated 
John Brown, of Haddington, probably one of 
the most truly and deeply devout men that 
Scotland ever contained, that he had the 
whole Bible committed to memory so far as 
that if any verse in the whole volume were 
mentioned in his presence, he could instantly 
tell where it was to be found, and repeat the 
preceding and following verses. Surely this 
is an attainment unspeakably desirable for a 
minister of the gospel, and which it is easy 
to see might be made to bear in the happiest 
manner not only on his preaching, but also 
on every form of excellence in public prayer. 

It is to be presumed, of course, that every 
minister of the gospel reads a portion of the 
Bible with a view to his own spiritual edifi¬ 
cation, every day that he lives; and that he 
does this at greater length on the Lord’s 
day than on other days, and on that day 
with peculiar application of mind. Now if 
every minister, in reading the word of God, 
at any time, but especially on the morning of 
the Lord’s day, were to do it with the ex¬ 
press purpose of furnishing his memory and 
his heart with some portion of materials for 


282 


THOUGHTS ON 


the public prayers of that day, could he fail 
of being aided by it in that part of his public 
labours? It has been already suggested that 
variety , under proper regulation, is an im¬ 
portant quality in the devotions of the sanc¬ 
tuary. Could a more direct and efficient 
course be taken to secure a desirable portion 
of this element in its best form than to 
labour, every successive Sabbath, to derive 
from the great fountain of all revealed truth, 
something “new as well as old,” for the 
services of the following day? Perhaps 
among all the methods devised of guarding 
against that wearisome sameness which is so 
apt to be perceptible in the public prayers of 
those who very often, and for a long course 
of years, officiate in this exercise, that which 
I have last mentioned, would, if faithfully 
and perseveringly followed, prove most ef¬ 
fectual. Would not even the aged and the 
infirm, in the decline of life, if they spent an 
hour, or even half that time, every Sabbath 
morning, in laying up something for the 
public devotions of that day, much more fre¬ 
quently than they do, escape that appearance 
of carelessness and want of interest in public 
prayer which is so apt to creep into the 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


283 


public prayers of aged and infirm minis¬ 
ters? 

It was originally my intention to include 
in this manual an extended collection of 
passages from the word of God for the pur¬ 
pose of furnishing materials on all subjects 
for the devotions of the pulpit. But I have 
been deterred from carrying into execution 
this part of my original plan by three reasons. 
First, such a collection, to be of real value, 
must be large; which would have swelled 
the size and expense of the volume to an 
inconvenient degree. Secondly, Bishop Wil¬ 
kins, Mr. Henry, Dr. Watts, and others, have 
already made a collection of this kind quite 
as large and complete as I could have 
thought of. Of course, the work is already 
done, and need not be repeated. Thirdly, if 
a young minister wishes to derive the greatest 
benefit from such a collection, it will do him 
most good to make it for himself. In study¬ 
ing a classical author in an unknown lan¬ 
guage, a literal translation put into the hands 
of the student is always an injury rather 
than a help. If he is left to find out the 
knowledge of every sentence by his own 
labour, his knowledge will be better digested, 


284 - 


thoughts ON 


and will dwell more firmly in his memory. 
So, if the youthful candidate for the pulpit 
should search the Scriptures for himself, and 
make the collection recommended, from time 
to time, by his personal labour, it would be 
more thoroughly his own, and be more likely 
to be always at hand to serve his purpose. 

IV. Another method of attaining excel¬ 
lence in public prayer, is, when any dispen¬ 
sation of Providence occurs, which appears 
to demand special attention in the devotions 
of the sanctuary, to make prompt and special 
preparation for presenting that object in pub¬ 
lic prayer in the most simple, scriptural, and 
edifying form. He who occupies the place 
of a public teacher and guide, whose duty it 
is to enlighten the public mind, and to give 
an impulse to public feeling, ought to be 
constantly on the watch that he may be en¬ 
abled to perform his duty in a skilful and 
happy manner; and when any thing un¬ 
usual occurs it ought, of course, to be matter 
of immediate and solicitous inquiry with him 
how he may give a touch to the ark of God, 
in relation to the matter in question, which 
will be likely to issue in the greatest amount 
of good to the souls committed to his charge. 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


285 


It was my privilege, in early life, to be 
somewhat acquainted with a venerable min¬ 
ister of Massachusetts, who w'ent further 
than any other pastor I can now call to 
mind in adapting his preaching to all the 
remarkable dispensations of Providence that 
occurred. He not only preached in a very 
appropriate manner on all fast and thanks¬ 
giving days, whether appointed by the gene¬ 
ral or state governments, but he was accus¬ 
tomed to take a public notice in the pulpit of 
all occurrences which were adapted strongly 
to occupy and excite the public mind—a 
protracted and distressing drought; a de¬ 
structive flood; an extensively injurious fire 
or storm; a remarkable eclipse; a singularly 
distressing case of suicide; the opening of a 
magnificent bridge; a noted case of appeal 
to witchcraft; all these furnished this good 
man, from time to time, with themes for pul¬ 
pit discourses, many of which were after¬ 
wards given to the public from the press, 
and yet remain monuments of his vigilance 
and fidelity. 

This practice was wise. Whatever the 
event may be which strongly occupies the 
popular feeling, and excites to much conver- 
25 


286 


THOUGHTS ON 


sation, it is capable of being turned to valua¬ 
ble account by a wise and faithful minister 
of the gospel. And this consideration ex¬ 
tends to public prayer as well as preaching. 
Nay, a wise pastor will often find occasion 
to take a seasonable and delicate notice of a 
recent occurrence in prayer, which he would 
hesitate to make the subject of a sermon, or 
formally to introduce into a discourse. Now 
it is always of some importance, and some¬ 
times of very great importance to the edifi¬ 
cation of a Christian assembly, that these 
notices of recent events in the devotional 
exercises of the pulpit be scriptural, judi¬ 
cious, and such as are adapted to meet the 
feelings, and gratify the taste of enlightened 
Christian worshippers. 

I have sometimes gone to the house of 
God when some recent occurrence of deep 
and thrilling interest filled every heart, and 
dwelt upon every tongue; and when I ex¬ 
pected a feeling impression of it to warm the 
mind, and shine forth in the prayers of the 
officiating minister. But, to my disappoint¬ 
ment and mortification, I have sometimes 
found him as totally silent on the subject, as 
if the intelligence had never reached his ears, 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


287 


and allowing all the excited feelings of those 
around him to pass away without any of 
those appeals to the throne of grace which are 
adapted at once to compose, to soothe, and to 
elevate the soul of the devout worshipper. 

But, at some other times, I have found the 
officiating minister, on these exciting occa¬ 
sions, not silent, indeed, in regard to them, 
but praying in a manner in no respect pre¬ 
ferable to silence. I have known him to 
utter himself in prayer in such a hesitating, 
embarrassed, injudicious manner, as plainly 
evinced that he had not bestowed a thought 
on the manner in which he should order his 
petitions. The consequence was, that in¬ 
stead of meeting and consulting the excited 
feelings of the assembly, he rather gave pain, 
and banished all sentiments of devotion. 

This is unhappy; and every minister who 
desires to promote the edification of the 
Church ought to be on the watch to guard 
against such embarrassing circumstances, 
and to prepare himself, on all such special 
occasions, to present his petitions in that 
simple, scriptural, and happy manner which 
shall be adapted to satisfy every mind, and 
to warm every heart. This is, no doubt, 


288 


THOUGHTS ON 


what our fathers meant, when, in the direc¬ 
tions for the performance of public prayer, 
quoted in the beginning of this chapter, they 
say—“ When he is to enter on particular acts 
of worship, he should endeavour to compose 
his spirit, and to digest his thoughts for 
prayer, that it may be performed with dig¬ 
nity and propriety, as well as to the profit of 
those who join in it.” In this preparation, 
the stores of the word of God furnish, of 
course, the best aid. Scarcely any exigency, 
joyful or adverse, can occur, in regard to 
which the inspired pages do not exhibit ap¬ 
propriate forms of petition. If these heaven¬ 
ly stores were studied and treasured up by 
ministers as they ought to be, they would be 
at no loss for appropriate language in which 
to present any object before the throne of 
grace; and even w T ith regard to the most 
unusual occurrence, the reflection of a few 
minutes would supply them with all that 
they need. How worthy of censure is that 
minister who, in the midst of occurrences 
which occupy every heart, and dwell upon 
every tongue, wfill not spend a thought in 
preparing to present before the throne in the 
most acceptable manner those petitions in 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


289 


which so many around him feel a deep and 
tender interest! 

V. The last means of attaining excellence 
in public prayer that I shall mention, is, the 
habit of devotional composition. 

It is perfectly known, to every well-in¬ 
formed person, that we, as Presbyterians, are 
entirely and irreconcilably opposed to con¬ 
fining ministers to prescribed forms of 
prayer. It has been demonstrated, if I mis¬ 
take not, in a preceding chapter, that such a 
practice was wholly unknown in the primi¬ 
tive and apostolic church; that it was never 
introduced until about five hundred years 
after the death of Christ, when Christian 
knowledge and piety had greatly declined; 
and when many corruptions, over which in¬ 
telligent Christians mourned, had crept into 
the Church; and that its introduction and 
establishment have been connected with a 
number of most serious evils. 

Still we do not pronounce all use of pre¬ 
composed prayers to be criminal, and have 
no doubt that devotional composition may be 
so employed as to minister most happily to 
the attainment of the best attributes of public 
prayer. 

25 * 


290 


THOUGHTS on 


I would by no means, indeed, recommend 
to any one, in any case, to write prayers; to 
commit them to memory; and to recite them 
verbatim in the pulpit. I have never been 
personally acquainted with any one who did 
this; though I have heard of it in a very few 
instances, but always in a way, and under 
impressions that satisfied me it was not an 
eligible method, but adapted rather to gene¬ 
rate formality, and could not fail of proving 
unfriendly to the most enlightened and suc¬ 
cessful culture of the gift of prayer; that 
precious gift, which ought to be highly 
prized, and diligently cherished by every 
gospel minister, and which enters more deep¬ 
ly into the acceptance and usefulness of the 
sacred office than any statement of mine can 
represent. 

It is not to be supposed that there is any 
thing about extempore prayer, more than 
about the other services of the pulpit, which 
will enable any one who attempts it, to do 
well without mental discipline; without ma¬ 
ture knowledge; without a happy command 
of language; without some taste and skill in 
the selection of topics; and some facility, 
the result of habit, as well as of grace, in the 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


291 


choice of simple, plain, yet appropriate dic¬ 
tion. And these things must not be expected 
to come by inspiration. Means must, of 
course, be employed to attain them. Lord 
Chancellor Bacon has somewhere said— 
“ Reading makes a full man; conversation a 
ready man, and writing an exact man.” 
This maxim is not only just, but it is appli¬ 
cable to every department of knowledge and 
of mental exercise. He who wishes to disci¬ 
pline his own mind on any subject; to render 
his habits of thinking accurate and pro¬ 
found; to cure himself of habits of crude 
thought, and loose expression, ought to 
make a point of subjecting every matter that 
he takes in hand to the process of writing; 
and he w T ill be more likely to attain his 
object than by any other human means in 
his power. If a man wished to study a sub¬ 
ject with most entire success; to attain deep, 
clear, and systematic views of it in all its parts, 
he could not take a better course than to 
write a treatise upon it. However confident 
he might be, before he took his pen in hand, 
that he understood the subject well; he 
would soon find that the precision of thought 
and of language which he felt imposed upon 


292 


THOUGHTS ON 


him, compelled him to extend his informa¬ 
tion, to rectify his conceptions, and to modify 
his definitions at every step. 

These are precisely the correctives which 
writing affords in the case of those who are 
immature and unfurnished for the able and 
happy performance of extemporaneous public 
prayer. The most common faults of such 
in this exercise, are poverty of appropriate, 
comprehensive, seasonable thought, and the 
want of a judicious, happy style of expres¬ 
sion. Now, next to a warm and feeling 
heart, there can be no surer corrective of 
these faults than careful, devout writing. 
Nay, many a man of warm and feeling heart 
has given vent to pious effusions in prayer, 
which he could never have uttered if they 
had undergone that careful inspection, and 
calm review which the process of commit¬ 
ting to paper necessarily furnishes. Though 
fervour of piety is the most important of all 
elements as a preparation for public prayer; 
yet even this will not secure a man against 
all the faults incident to this exercise; nay, 
his very fervour may betray him into modes 
of expression, which cannot stand the test of 
enlightened and sanctified reflection, and of 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


293 


which he would in no way be so likely to 
perceive the real character as by subjecting 
them to the inspection and discipline of the 
eye as well as of the feelings. 

If, therefore, we desire to have our words, 
in all our solemn approaches to the throne of 
grace, according to the Divine prescription, 
“few and well ordered;” if we desire to 
have our petitions “well considered,” and 
our language such as is best adapted to im¬ 
press and to edify the people of God, can we 
doubt that it is wise to ponder well what we 
utter before the Lord, and to subject it to 
that solemn and leisurely review of which 
the process of writing gives so ample an 
opportunity? The object of writing in this 
case, is not to be refined; not to be rhetorical; 
not to be elegant or beautiful; not to aim at 
elaborate ingenuity; but, precisely the re¬ 
verse ;—to study brevity, simplicity, com¬ 
prehensiveness, and adaptedness to every 
capacity; to study that which is natural, 
plain, perfectly intelligible to the humblest 
worshipper; and adapted to meet the feel¬ 
ings at once of the highest and lowest of the 
assembly. I know not how this is to be 
attained in the happiest and best manner 


294 


THOUGHTS ON 


but by the habit of devotional composition; 
by a happy selection and adjustment of 
topics; by weighing language; and by em¬ 
ploying all the means in our power to make 
the most scriptural matter, and the most 
scriptural manner of addressing the throne 
of grace, familiar to our minds. 

The late Dr. Witherspoon, wdiose counsels 
to theological students have always been 
highly prized, was accustomed to embrace 
the following anecdote in the course of his 
lectures to this class of his pupils. The Rev. 
Dr. John Gillies, one of the ministers of 
Glasgow, was one of the most pious, warm¬ 
hearted, popular divines of the Church of 
Scotland in his day. He was greatly distin¬ 
guished as a friend of revivals of religion, 
and as taking a lively interest in every thing 
connected with the success of the gospel. 
His “ Historical Collections,” in two volumes 
8vo., published in 1754, giving an account of 
remarkable revivals of religion, both in 
Europe and America, bear ample testimony 
to this aspect of his character. 

Dr. Witherspoon remarked, that the pub¬ 
lic prayers of this gentleman were, on the 
whole, the best he ever heard. They were 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


295 


not what many would call beautiful or elo¬ 
quent. But in simplicity; in richness of 
appropriate thought; in spirituality; in the 
constant recognition of the richest evangelical 
sentiments; in pathos; in variety; in perfect 
appropriateness to every occasion on which 
he officiated; in scriptural language happily 
selected, and admirably applied ; in short, in 
all the attributes of an humble, filial, touch¬ 
ing prayer, adapted to all capacities, but 
especially acceptable to the most fervently 
pious of his congregation, he exceeded all 
men he had ever heard in the sacred desk. 
Dr. Witherspoon observed, that he one day 
said to Dr. Gillies: “Brother, I have always 
admired your gift in prayer as remarkable 
and peculiar. Will you allow me to ask 
how you attained that power?” Dr. Gillies 
replied as follows : “ My dear brother, I do 
not allow that there is any thing so remark¬ 
able in my prayers as you seem disposed to 
intimate. They do not appear to me to 
deserve the commendation which your ques¬ 
tion seems to imply. But if there be any 
thing in my public prayers different from 
the most common place and ordinary services 
of that kind, I must ascribe it, under God, to 


296 


THOUGHTS ON 


the unwearied pains I have taken, for many 
years, to improve in this branch of my 
ministerial work. In the early part of my 
ministry I abounded in devotional composi¬ 
tion. Indeed I may say, that for the first 
ten years of my pastoral life, I never wrote a 
sermon, without writing a prayer, in part or 
in whole, corresponding with it in its general 
strain. This gave me the habit of express¬ 
ing myself in prayer on all manner of sub¬ 
jects in appropriate, well-considered, and 
scriptural terms, and enabled me to embrace 
a variety in my public devotional exercises 
which I should not have been likely other¬ 
wise to reach.” 

Whether Dr. Gillies was in the habit of 
committing the prayers which he thus dili¬ 
gently wrote, verbatim to memory, and strict¬ 
ly reciting them in the pulpit, he does not 
appear to have stated; but if he did, it cer¬ 
tainly was not the wisest course, and was one 
which I would by no means recommend as 
best adapted to answer the end proposed. 
The unavoidable effect of such a course 
would be to restrain the “gift” of prayer in 
*its best fervours; to confer upon the whole 
service more of an artificial and studied 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


297 , 


aspect; to make the exercise an affair of the 
intellect rather than of the heart; and to 
generate, in spite of every effort that could 
be made to avoid it, cold formality rather 
than that “ fervent and effectual prayer 
which availeth much ” in him who offers, as 
well as in regard to Him to whom it is 
addressed. 

My impression is, that the very process of 
composing such prayers is the most im¬ 
portant part of the benefit which they confer. 
Were each one to be thrown into the fire as 
soon as it was completed, the great end of its 
composition would be in a good measure 
gained. That end is the continual enlarge¬ 
ment of the devotional resources, and the 
devotional taste of the individual who writes. 
Every time, therefore, that he takes pen in 
hand to form an address to the throne of 
grace, if he conduct it aright, he benefits both 
his heart and his head;—his heart, by sum¬ 
moning it to contemplate the most exalted 
and glorious of all objects; to acknowledge 
the most weighty and solemn of all obliga¬ 
tions; and to supplicate the most precious 
of all favours, temporal and spiritual;—and 
his head, by selecting and weighing topics; 

26 


..298 


THOUGHTS ON 


by pondering on the proprieties of devotional 
language; and by studying how to make his 
words as “ few and well-ordered/’ as simple, 
as scriptural, and as richly comprehensive 
as possible. 

The fault of many ministers in public 
prayer is abounding in unnecessary words; 
and of others that they are prone to employ 
unsuitable, canting, and unmeaning words. 
Now I know of no more effectual method of 
correcting both these classes of faults than 
the enlightened, careful and deliberate use 
of the pen. The moment the eye of an edu¬ 
cated man rests on an incorrect or untasteful 
expression committed to paper, he seldom 
fails to detect at once its inappropriate cha¬ 
racter. 

I have said, that I would by no means 
advise any one to be in the habit of commit¬ 
ting written prayers to memory, and reciting 
them servilely in the pulpit. There is some¬ 
thing in the practice of uttering any thing 
in public from memory that is apt to beget 
in the speaker, in spite of every effort to the 
contrary, a formal reciting tone. This prin¬ 
ciple seldom fails to be exemplified very 
strikingly in memoriter preachers. In the 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


299 


course of a long life, and with some range of 
opportunity for observation on this subject, I 
have never heard more than one, or, at 
most, tw r o memoriter preachers who* entirely 
avoided the reciting tone. The same princi¬ 
ple applies, in some measure, to prayers re¬ 
cited from memory. I do not believe that it 
is, ordinarily, possible wholly to divest them 
of the character and tone of recitation. It is 
one of the rarest things in the world to hear 
any one read a prayer, or any other com¬ 
position, in the perfectly simple, natural 
intonation which is, of coarse, employed in 
extemporaneous, feeling, animated utterance. 
The same difficulty applies to reciting from 
memory. The formal reading tone will sel¬ 
dom fail to creep in, and disclose to the 
practised ear that the man is uttering some¬ 
thing studied and prepared. 

While, therefore, I would earnestly exhort 
every young minister and candidate for the 
sacred office to abound in devotional com¬ 
position, for the sake of enlarging his devo¬ 
tional resources, both as to topics and lan¬ 
guage, and also as the most effectual means 
of imparting to his whole style the simplicity, 


300 


THOUGHTS ON 


the variety, and the scriptural richness so 
desirable in that important exercise; I would 
quite as earnestly advise that the plan of 
servile recitation from memory be sacredly 
avoided. The true plan is to write often; to 
write much; to store the mind with ample 
furniture for the exercise; but to leave the 
utterance of the moment to the impulses of a 
feeling, gushing heart. The occasion must 
be very peculiar, and the circumstances very 
delicate indeed, in which I should be willing 
to recommend repeating, in the public as¬ 
sembly, the ijpsissima verba which had been 
written. 

I take for granted that every candidate for 
the ministry, and every minister of the gos¬ 
pel will, every year, observe days of special 
prayer and humiliation, accompanied at 
proper seasons, with fasting. Such days 
will ever be found important in nurturing a 
spirit of piety, and will not be neglected by 
him who wishes and studies to grow" in 
grace. Now a wise minister, or candidate 
for the ministry, will ever make the ob¬ 
servance of such days subservient to devo¬ 
tional composition. They will lead him to 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


301 


pen many an address to the great Head of 
the Church in regard to the various objects 
which occupy, in succession, the most promi¬ 
nent places on these various days. And if 
he seize with intelligence and with faithful¬ 
ness the spirit of each occasion, he will be 
constrained to pour out his feelings on paper, 
in regard to national calamities, and national 
mercies; in regard to the state of the Church 
and the world; in regard to the passing 
events in Providence, and the desertions or 
the triumphs of Divine grace; in regard to 
prevailing sickness, or joyful health; in re¬ 
gard to the changes of the seasons, and the 
fruits of the earth; and especially in regard 
to the conflicts and enjoyments of his own 
soul. Now, when a man is led by these 
sacred exercises in private to study how he 
may most happily and acceptably express 
the devout aspirations of his heart on all 
these subjects, and is wise enough to be in 
the habit of putting on paper the exercises 
of his own mind on all these occasions, they 
may, and will be made subservient < to his 
ability to conduct the devotions of the sanc¬ 
tuary in the most appropriate, happy, and 


26 .* 


302 


THOUGHTS ON 


acceptable manner; with all the variety, 
simplicity and richness that can be desired. 

But while devotional composition ought 
always to be connected with these days of 
special observance, and to make a part of 
that record of such days which may after¬ 
wards be seriously and devoutly reviewed; 
yet it ought by no means to be confined to 
those days. A wise minister, when he finds 
his heart made specially to feel, or his mind, 
by any circumstances, drawn into a happy 
train of thought or expression adapted to 
public devotion, will seize upon it, and take 
the first opportunity of committing it to 
writing, that he may improve his devotional 
vocabulary, and enlarge his devotional trea¬ 
sures. He who has a taste for divine con¬ 
templation, or for converse with heaven; or 
a mind awake to all the impressions which 
the conversation of the pious, or the com¬ 
plaints or profaneness of the wicked may 
sometimes suggest, will be at no loss to 
understand how they may all be made 
subservient to the purpose under considera¬ 
tion. 

If I shall succeed in convincing the reader 


PUBLIC PRAYEE. 


303 


of these pages that no man can be expected 
to attain much excellence in this department 
of the public service of the sanctuary, who 
does not feel the importance of this excel¬ 
lence; who is not whiling to take pains to 
attain it; wdio does not commune much with 
his God in secret; who does not pray with¬ 
out ceasing for both the grace and the gift of 
prayer; and who is not constantly on the 
watch to embrace the opportunities and the 
means to this end which may be placed 
within his reach, to gain improvement, my 
purpose will be in some measure gained. 
Until these impressions and habits are ac¬ 
quired, there is no hope of much advance in 
this happy accomplishment. A man may, 
indeed, upon cheaper terms, learn the art of 
making an “ eloquent prayer,” nay, a “ splen¬ 
did prayer;” a prayer that shall send the 
worldly and the superficial away praising it 
to the skies; but not that prayer which 
“ entereth into the ears of the Lord of Saba- 
oth,” which wfill meet the wishes of the peo¬ 
ple of God, and which is adapted to draw 
down blessings upon the Church of God. 

We call that preacher wfise, who is ever 


304 


THOUGHTS ON 


desiring and striving to make improvement 
in the precious art of reaching and impress¬ 
ing the hearts of men, and “ winning souls 
to Christ;” who labours to “ bring out of his 
treasure things new and old;” who is awake 
to every occurrence, in nature or in grace, 
which may suggest to him a new topic of 
impressive address, or a new form of lan¬ 
guage likely to find access to the hearts of 
any class of his hearers. We commend the 
wisdom of that preacher who does not open 
a book, or take a walk, or engage in a jour¬ 
ney, or enter a company, or look abroad on 
the face of nature, without trying to find 
something to add to his store of means in 
preaching Christ to his perishing fellow men. 
Surely it is an equal mark of wisdom when 
the occupant of the sacred desk is equally 
anxious, and equally diligent in striving and 
praying to derive from all sources the means 
of improvement in conducting the devotions 
of the sanctuary. And if so, how shall we 
estimate either the judgment or the fidelity 
of him, who spares no pains to improve, 
enrich, and elevate the character of his ser¬ 
mons, from week to week, while that of his 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


305 


'public prayers seems to engage but little 
thought; to call forth little or no effort; is 
marked with little or no improvement; and 
goes on from year to year, in the same dull 
routine, as a mere secondary concern? Feel¬ 
ing myself near to my last account, I would 
put it to the consciences of my younger bre¬ 
thren in the ministry (with the aged, I dare 
not, for more reasons than one, remonstrate) 
how they can reconcile it with their view's of 
duty, thus to undervalue and neglect what 
ought to be regarded and treated as an 
instrument for impressing the minds of men, 
more potent, more tenderly effectual, than all 
the prepared and prescribed forms that w r ere 
ever made ready to their hands. 

And, as I hope that the consciences of 
some will be roused by what has been said, 
to a more just estimate of this whole subject 
than they have heretofore made; so I trust 
they will see that no essential improvement 
w T ill be likely to be made in this department 
of the public service without serious and 
devoted attention to the subject; wdthout a 
governing desire to excel; without much 
communion with the Father of our spirits, 


306 THOUGHTS ON PUBLIC PRAYER. 

and his Son Jesus Christ; and without un¬ 
ceasing application for help from on high. 
I hesitate not, once more, to apply to this 
attainment those emphatic words which our 
Master in heaven applied to another—“This 
kind goeth not out, but by prayer and fast¬ 
ing.”* 

* Matt. xvii. 21. 


THE END. 














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